The NBA’s new commissioner, Adam Silver has put his
league on notice that there will be no room for racism in professional
basketball. He has set the bar very high indeed, by issuing a life time ban for
Donald Sterling’s words uttered in a private conversation serendipitously
recorded by his girlfriend and then leaked to TMZ. No matter the source,
Sterling’s racist words earned him a record 2.5 million dollar fine, a life
time ban and a forced sale of his ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers. I shed no tears for Sterling, a world class
creep who deserves everything he gets. But if I were a player in this league, I
would be very, very nervous right
about now.
Professional basketball players, like most world
class athletes, aren’t exactly known for their Mensa memberships, neither are
they known for their choirboy lifestyles, or open-minded acceptance of the “other.”
A quick examination of the arrest records of the major stars of most American
professional sports leagues will reveal an appalling number of aggravated assaults,
domestic violence, drug use and possession, as well as your basic garden
variety public intoxication charges. Now that the social media crowd has discovered
the power that an illegally taped conversation has to catapult one to fame and
potential fortune, we can expect more of it…a LOT more. So the next time Lebron
and his entourage are out having a few drinks after a game and somebody starts
telling jokes about that gay couple sitting in the third row, they better keep
a sharp eye out for anyone holding their smart phone at an odd angle. If Carmelo
Anthony casually makes disparaging remarks about a white opponent’s inability
to jump, he better hope nobody gets it on tape.
There’s a new sheriff in town and he has made it
clear that the NBA will not tolerate impure, insensitive or racist thoughts,
even if they are expressed only in private conversations.
One wonders if any person associated with the NBA
has ever done anything worthy of a life time ban before Mr. Sterling. Actually
there have been a few, mostly no-name players like Roy Tarpley and Chris
Washburn, banned for substance abuse. But when it comes to big name players, it’s
practically impossible to be banned for life. Although Allen Iverson’s arrest
record included physical violence against his wife, including throwing her out
of his house naked into the street, no life time ban was issued. During a nine
year NBA career Isaiah Rider was arrested an astonishing 832 times, a record
that still stands, for everything from assault to weed possession. None of
these 832 arrest or even the record setting accumulation of arrests were enough
to illicit a life time ban from the Commissioner’s office. But that was then,
and this is now. Adam Silver is no Donald Stern, and apparently Isaiah Rider is
no Donald Sterling.
So here’s a head’s up to everyone associated with
the League, watch your mouth. You never know who is listening.
No comments:
Post a Comment