By Lee Igel & Arthur Caplan
Forbes.com | April 29 , 2014
Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team, seems to be an out-and-out racist. That, at least, is what could be gathered from words on an audiotape that gossip website TMZ got a hold of—words that Sterling has not denied. The reason for the near-certainty about his being a first-rate bigot is that, besides the evidence on the tape, Sterling has a long, fetid history of mouthing racial slurs in his business affairs, harassment of women, and even a settlement over racial and ethnic discrimination involving rental housing properties that he owned.
The wrath of the NBA, the sports world, and the public consciousness has fallen upon Sterling’s deserving shoulders. Clippers coach, Doc Rivers, says he is not sure he can continue working for him. Players on the team are embarrassed wearing its logo on the court. Fans are mocking him with signs and Internet memes. And the media is calling for Sterling to be punished by forcing him to sell the team.
