... I wonder how all those losers feel, who gave Derrick grief for not playing in the playoffs last year?  They questioned his honesty and his team spirit as well as his manhood.  That's not fandom; that's idiocy.

^While I'm all in favor of letting a player dictate when he is healthy enough to return, these injuries are not related.  Different knee.... so its not like it was an aggravation of the same injury.

 

Rose will fall into the Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Tracy McGrady category of players whose injuries derailed HOF careers.  He will need to reinvent his game to avoid these constant injuries.

 

Beal is hurt again too.  After seeing him play this season, I thought he was on a trajectory to be one of the best 2's in the league.

Donald Sterling, the racist owner of the L.A. Clippers, has been banned for life by the NBA commissioner and may soon be forced by the other 29 NBA owners to sell the Clippers.  The 80-year-old Sterling was brought down by his mistress who secretly recorded his racist tirade.  This, after the previous commissioner David Stern let Sterling skate after two separate federal convictions for housing discrimination in the 2000's and for generally being the worst owner in the NBA since 1981 (and considered by many to be the worst sports owner in our generation).

 

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10857580/donald-sterling-los-angeles-clippers-owner-receives-life-ban-nba

The league really had no choice and I honestly wish nothing but the worst for this POS.  That said, I somewhat agree with Mark Cuban's initial assessment that it is a slippery slope issue.

I've heard a lot of people take this opinion that he shouldn't be forced out. Regardless of their rationale, I completely disagree. The guy violated the rules of a private conference, and is affecting the reputation of his team and the NBA, which will have direct financial consequences. The league has morality clauses in the player contracts, so it is not unreasonable to think they have similar expectations for owners. The reality is he's been a sh!tty owner for 30 years, and they were probably looking for reasons to get him out of ownership. He just offered them this option on a silver platter.

 

And I hardly feel bad for the guy, as he's going to make a substantial windfall from the sale of the team (I've heard estimates ranging from $500M to $1B...the latter being a little ridiculous, but whatever) if he's forced to do so.

 

 

He'll get more than $1billion if he still controls the ability to sell it to the highest bidder.  Ironically, the timing couldn't be any better given the resurgence of the franchise and relatively bright future.  Hell.... somebody might even think about taking the team back to San Diego (doubt it) or on to Seattle (doubt it, but more likely than San Diego I suppose).

I've heard a lot of people take this opinion that he shouldn't be forced out. Regardless of their rationale, I completely disagree.

 

Yeah. For everyone who says "What about the first amendment?", you obviously don't understand the first amendment, what it covers, and how it protects you. The NBA has every right to permanently ban him from the league and force a sale of the team.

 

I really hate the NBA (for reasons completely unrelated to race relations), but I'm glad they were able to swiftly take care of this (even though it has been pretty obvious he is racist for a long time). It puts a positive light on the league, in my opinion.

I've heard a lot of people take this opinion that he shouldn't be forced out. Regardless of their rationale, I completely disagree. The guy violated the rules of a private conference, and is affecting the reputation of his team and the NBA, which will have direct financial consequences.

 

Right. He owns a franchise. Like a McDonald's owner owns a franchise. If that owner says anything that jeopardizes the integrity or the financial well-being of the company, he's gone.

Mark Cuban has a point, but remember that it takes a 75% supermajority of other owners to force a sale.  That's got to be worth some protection against slippery slopes.  Are they worried that a 75% supermajority might decide to vote out the Heat/Thunder/whoever just because the others are ticked at their record?  First, that's obviously extremely unlikely; this is the first time we're even really hearing about the procedure for forcing out an owner, because it's basically never been seriously considered before.  Also, if they're worried about possible abuses, they can also vote to amend the NBA constitution to specify certain grounds that require an even higher threshold (90%, for example, similar to Delaware short-form corporate mergers that allow a 90% shareholder to force out the other <10%).

The reason I say it is a slippery slope is because this was a private conversation, most likely illegally recorded and disbursed.  If Sterling had made the same comments publicly, it would be a no brainer.  I think Sterling's apparent lack of remorse made it a no brainer for Silver.  And, yes, this seems to be an opportunity the entire NBA community welcomed given his past track record.  However, I would bet you could liquor up more than a few sports team owners and get them to say some pretty ridiculous stuff behind closed doors amongst their inner circle / family.  The slippery slope is concerning..... not as to what the NBA "can" do, but what it "should" do.  It can do whatever its own laws say it can do, absent some violation of an overriding public law.  The totality of the circumstances here were alarming because Sterling was talking to his mistress, who (at least claims) to be half black and half Mexican.  The context of what he was talking about (i.e. who she can and can't bring to "his" games and his comments about what he "gives" to his players) certainly inflamed the situation.  But I can foresee a blurry line.  What if Jimmy Haslam made some racially insensitive comments in a recorded conversation between him and his dad?  How about Dan Gilbert making similar comments at the thanksgiving table with his family and Nick records it?

I'm no legal expert, but i'm pretty sure you can record any conversation if you are in it. This is not in a court of law. He is not being charged with anything. Of course it depends on the state.

 

 

 

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/04/donald_sterling_tempest_raises.html

He'll get more than $1billion if he still controls the ability to sell it to the highest bidder.  Ironically, the timing couldn't be any better given the resurgence of the franchise and relatively bright future.  Hell.... somebody might even think about taking the team back to San Diego (doubt it) or on to Seattle (doubt it, but more likely than San Diego I suppose).

 

Yeah SD is Laker country now.

I think the part of this that made this an easy decision for Silver is that the clippers are a valuable franchise right now. He won't have to deal with the worry of the league having to take over the team like New Orleans. Some one will buy the team, pay Sterling handsomely. Problem solved.

 

.

Anyone remember the weird controversy with the Clippers and their Superfan, Clipper Darrell? I understand the use of the name "Clipper" may present some legal issues (other Clipper fans started paying Darrell to attend their parties, etc) , but I distinctly remember thinking that the way the organization handled it was rather bush league.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_Darrell

I'm surprised that the general public is just finding out about this guy.  He's been known to be a racist for decades, just ask Elgin Baylor.  Also, in 2006 he was the defendant in the largest housing discrimination settlement in US HISTORY.  where was this outrage when he was doing real racial damage instead of talking about it?  Does the public actually need audio to notice these things?

^ Bomani Jones said pretty much the same thing on the Dan LeBatard show

 

Here's the link on Deadspin

 

http://deadspin.com/in-10-minutes-espns-bomani-jones-lays-waste-to-the-ste-1569195989

He'll get more than $1billion if he still controls the ability to sell it to the highest bidder.  Ironically, the timing couldn't be any better given the resurgence of the franchise and relatively bright future.  Hell.... somebody might even think about taking the team back to San Diego (doubt it) or on to Seattle (doubt it, but more likely than San Diego I suppose).

 

Yeah SD is Laker country now.

 

And would have to build the Clippers an arena.  Not likely to happen any time soon.

You'd think somebody that racist wouldn't even like the NBA let alone want to own a team.

I'm surprised that the general public is just finding out about this guy.  He's been known to be a racist for decades, just ask Elgin Baylor.  Also, in 2006 he was the defendant in the largest housing discrimination settlement in US HISTORY.  where was this outrage when he was doing real racial damage instead of talking about it?  Does the public actually need audio to notice these things?

 

Apparently they do.  Don't forget, this guy was already the recipient of an NAACP award & was scheduled to receive a lifetime achievement award from them.  How messed up is that

^The local LA chapter of the NAACP, to whom Sterling had given large donations in efforts to repair his image.  As with many large 'charitable' donations, strings were attached.  Think about Rockefeller and the Ludlow Massacre.  The NAACP is becoming increasingly irrelevant, despite the constant paranoia from some about its secret involvement in a massive conspiracy to undermine the rights and freedoms of Real Americans.  As it becomes more and more irrelevant, it will become more and more desperate for money.

A lot of nonprofit organizations, especially those built around social causes, overstay their relevance because they've built up institutional lives of their own after a certain point.  Moving away from the race issue entirely, I'm going to be very interested to see what happens to NORML if nationwide marijuana legalization becomes a reality at some point--which isn't at all beyond the realm of possibility anymore.

 

And for a reminder of just how old the NAACP is ... remember what the "CP" stands for and how much the valence of that phrase has changed in the years since the NAACP chose its name.  Maybe not quite as bad as "Negro" today (which has also changed dramatically over the past 100+ years, sorry Mr. Bundy), but certainly not something you'd drop in casual conversation.

NBA owners voting forcing Sterling to sell team.  Sterling gets an offer for $2 Billion.  Sterling's lawyer says they will sue the NBA.  This story is crazy.  When the initial talk of a forced sale started, estimates were around $600 million.

 

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/11003237/former-microsoft-executive-steve-ballmer-submits-winning-bid-buy-clippers-according-sources

NBA owners voting forcing Sterling to sell team.  Sterling gets an offer for $2 Billion.  Sterling's lawyer says they will sue the NBA.  This story is crazy.  When the initial talk of a forced sale started, estimates were around $600 million.

 

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/11003237/former-microsoft-executive-steve-ballmer-submits-winning-bid-buy-clippers-according-sources

 

Makes you wonder if he didn't do all this on purpose?  Ca ching.

Hopefully the Spurs get their revenge...

yeah but with skrillbron spinning? not likely

 

 

Yep, it's called "Lebron-ing". Just when I lose all hope for humanity, this trend emerges.....

 

 

 

Surprised this wasn't brought up.

 

 

Followed by these:

 

 

 

 

big four? seems far-fetched, but who knows?

 

http://nypost.com/2014/06/11/report-heat-want-carmelo-to-join-the-big-3/

 

lol! that is all. :)

 

From Chris Rock's FB page last night"

 

 

10:20 PM - "When did the heat become the Cavs."

 

 

 

 

lebron's new decision:

 

http://nypost.com/2014/06/21/lebron-may-be-better-off-bolting-miami/

Miami asks for LeBron to take a pay cut, then Pat Riley basically calls him out, embarrassing his manhood if he even THINKS about leaving South Florida... This AFTER LeBron has led the Heat to 2 championships and even this year, in losing, he's the only Heat to show up in the Finals... Maybe it's me, but this treatment of the King is far worse than Gilbert's email.

Miami asks for LeBron to take a pay cut, then Pat Riley basically calls him out, embarrassing his manhood if he even THINKS about leaving South Florida... This AFTER LeBron has led the Heat to 2 championships and even this year, in losing, he's the only Heat to show up in the Finals... Maybe it's me, but this treatment of the King is far worse than Gilbert's email.

 

Thats how you keep your employees in check!  As a Sr. Executive, in 18 years, I've had three employees leave me and as I told them in not so many words, the bridge is burned and the grass is not greener. 

 

Riley thru down the gauntlet and drew a line in the sand.  Its the Heat players next move.  Remember all that calculated BS that happened when LeBron left Cleveland and Bosh left Toronto?  Riley is saying he does not want any of that to play out in public on his watch.

 

LeBron....come back home.  I kid...I kid!

 

Thats how you keep your employees in check!  As a Sr. Executive, in 18 years, I've had three employees leave me and as I told them in not so many words, the bridge is burned and the grass is not greener. 

 

This logic, if you will, does not apply to Riley and Lebron.  Lebron is not an "employee".... he is the talent.  If Riley were to say "if you walk out that door, don't dream of coming back", well.... there would be 29 other NBA teams willing to open their doors to LBJ.  Riley is in no position to be issuing ultimatums or threats.  If anything, Riley (not Lebron) should be worrying about burning bridges.

LeBron's employer is the Heat, yes or no?  There is not grey matter it's Black or White.

^ Yeah, but, he's the most important employee they have. If you told the owner he had to choose between Pat Riley or LeBron, I'm not saying that LeBron is the sure pick, but I guarantee you the owner would have to think about it.

 

I think LeBron is a spoiled d-bag, but he's also the most important player in the game right now. The only thing the Heat offer is Riley's abilty to put together a supporting cast to win another title. And right now, the one he has in place is busted.

^^I suppose, in the strictest sense of the word "employer"..... but then so is Nike and PowerAde.  The Heat have an exclusive rights contract.... and Lebron can choose to terminate that contract next week with Miami having absolutely no recourse.  But you're missing the point.  There is no playing hardball with Lebron.  If he chooses to no longer be an "employee" of the Heat, a choice he can make in a few days, there would never be a situation in which he would come back on hands and knees begging Pat Riley to give him another chance.  The opposite scenario (Riley begging Lebron) is not likely either, but still 1,000,000 times more probable.

 

^I get the Cleveland hate for Lebron, but does he really deserve the d-bag label?  He has never really been in any trouble, legally or with the NBA.  He is a family man who married his high school sweetheart and is a great father to his kids.  He is charitable (aside from rumors of his tipping practices).  He does a lot for the community, no matter where he is.

1) I don't think the Heat want to be in a position where they are publicly begging for him to come back. 2) A huge selling point for them is pat's confidence and godfatheresque persona.  He's selling that he knows what he's doing and that Lebron would be a fool not to see it.

If LeBron leaves Miami, I wonder what percentage of season ticket holders will not renew. Over/under 50%?

I am not sure of the stats, but I would bet that a lot of Miami season ticket holders are corporate and of that ilk.  The bigger question is will those season ticket holders find as many takers who want to use the seats.

The heat haven't done that bad in attendance over the last ten years.  I don't think season ticket sales there have much to do with the product.

^^I suppose, in the strictest sense of the word "employer"..... but then so is Nike and PowerAde.  The Heat have an exclusive rights contract.... and Lebron can choose to terminate that contract next week with Miami having absolutely no recourse.  But you're missing the point.  There is no playing hardball with Lebron.  If he chooses to no longer be an "employee" of the Heat, a choice he can make in a few days, there would never be a situation in which he would come back on hands and knees begging Pat Riley to give him another chance.  The opposite scenario (Riley begging Lebron) is not likely either, but still 1,000,000 times more probable.

 

^I get the Cleveland hate for Lebron, but does he really deserve the d-bag label?  He has never really been in any trouble, legally or with the NBA.  He is a family man who married his high school sweetheart and is a great father to his kids.  He is charitable (aside from rumors of his tipping practices).  He does a lot for the community, no matter where he is.

The Miami Heat is LeBron's employer.  Nike, Coke-Cola, Samsung are endorsement partners.  Two vastly different things.

 

The ball is in LeBron's court, same as it was when he was in Cleveland.  It's a business decision.

1) I don't think the Heat want to be in a position where they are publicly begging for him to come back. 2) A huge selling point for them is pat's confidence and godfatheresque persona.  He's selling that he knows what he's doing and that Lebron would be a fool not to see it.

 

BINGO!

^ Yeah, but, he's the most important employee they have. If you told the owner he had to choose between Pat Riley or LeBron, I'm not saying that LeBron is the sure pick, but I guarantee you the owner would have to think about it.

 

I think LeBron is a spoiled d-bag, but he's also the most important player in the game right now. The only thing the Heat offer is Riley's abilty to put together a supporting cast to win another title. And right now, the one he has in place is busted.

LeBron is a great player, no doubt, but no team wants him to come to them in the manner in which he left Cleveland.  You may be a great player, but you still need to be professional and "Team LeBron" has proved they cannot consistently execute.  Riley has to put his foot down and sometime "vanilla threats" are worse than the act.

 

If LeBron leaves Miami, I wonder what percentage of season ticket holders will not renew. Over/under 50%?

I would say along the same lines as if any other marquis player departed.  One thing we need to remember is this is D. Wades team, not LeBrons.

 

^I get the Cleveland hate for Lebron, but does he really deserve the d-bag label?  He has never really been in any trouble, legally or with the NBA.  He is a family man who married his high school sweetheart and is a great father to his kids.  He is charitable (aside from rumors of his tipping practices).  He does a lot for the community, no matter where he is.

 

Well, since we are now being held to the standard of justifying our vitriol on message boards, please allow myself to qualify...myself...with regard to that statement.... with a few additional statements.

 

1) I am and always will be speaking to LeBron being a d-bag in the professional sense. I don't know a thing about him personally. I didnt know he was a sh!tty t!pper, although that reason alone elevates him to d-bag status in my book.

2) I am at best a passive NBA fan. I no more considered LeBron 'my guy' than I considered the Cavs 'my team' (to the extent I watch any non-playoff basketball, I do watch the Cavs), so when he left, my opinion of him wasn't driven so much by emotion as by sheer shock that anyone would do their team and fans like that.

3) My 'd-bag' assessment is based on a few things, including the way he comes across some times in the few interviews I've seen him in, the way he gave up in the series against the Celtics, the way he stormed off the court the previous year after losing to the Magic, some of the nonsense in the first year with the Heat (Not one, not two....), and etcetera.

 

Now, that said, it does appear he's matured (that's what all the sports talkers say)...certainly he's a significantly more well rounded player now than 4 years ago. I guess the question of his continuing bagginess (at least in my opinion) will be answered with how he handles this next go around. If he's up front with his intentions, well then....I still won't root for him. But I will refrain from silly name calling on the internet.

 

 

^ Yeah, but, he's the most important employee they have. If you told the owner he had to choose between Pat Riley or LeBron, I'm not saying that LeBron is the sure pick, but I guarantee you the owner would have to think about it.

 

I think LeBron is a spoiled d-bag, but he's also the most important player in the game right now. The only thing the Heat offer is Riley's abilty to put together a supporting cast to win another title. And right now, the one he has in place is busted.

LeBron is a great player, no doubt, but no team wants him to come to them in the manner in which he left Cleveland.  You may be a great player, but you still need to be professional and "Team LeBron" has proved they cannot consistently execute.  Riley has to put his foot down and sometime "vanilla threats" are worse than the act.

 

I would go out on a limb and say there are any number of teams <cough cough..KNICKS...> that would take him if he admitted to eating young children as part of his pregame ritual.

 

Lastly, I'd bet if you asked anyone on that team, confidentially, they would tell you that it's LeBron's team, and has been for 3 years.

The Miami Heat is LeBron's employer.  Nike, Coke-Cola, Samsung are endorsement partners.  Two vastly different things.

 

The Miami Heat own Lebron's exclusive rights as far as the NBA is concerned.  He can't play for another NBA team so long as he is under contract with the Heat.  Nike owns Lebron's exclusive rights as far as the shoe business is concerned.  I'm sure the contract with Nike restricts his ability to work for another shoe company.  He signed contracts with both, for x amount of years and x amount of dollars.  It is not that different if you think about it.  One is a personal services contract and the other is an endorsement contract.  Neither is your typical employment contract.

LeBron has opted out....

That makes LeBron and the Knicks Anthony going the free agent route

Plus there is the Instagram post from LeBron's wife with the picture of Akron and the words "Home sweet home!!! The Countdown is real! #330"

Very interested to see what Bosh does.  Wade will opt-in, for sure, I would think.  There is no way he is going to get anywhere close to $20mill from another team.  If Bosh opts out, I think that is a sure sign that Lebron has informed his pals that he will not be re-upping with the Heat.  Bosh has until next week to make his decision.

 

Very interested to see what Bosh does.  Wade will opt-in, for sure, I would think.  There is no way he is going to get anywhere close to $20mill from another team.  If Bosh opts out, I think that is a sure sign that Lebron has informed his pals that he will not be re-upping with the Heat.  Bosh has until next week to make his decision.

Listening to ESPN it seems like Bosh loves living on Miami and will choose the team again with or without LeBron.

So this means that there's almost certainly no one year period in Miami where he "assesses the landscape of the rest of the league" (and where the Cavs would have another chance to prove their worthiness to him).  If he doesn't come back to Cleveland this summer, the earliest he would likely return would be after he has left his prime as a player, well into his early/mid 30s.  Personally, I have no interest in watching an aged LeBron return to Cleveland for some sort of a contrived comeback to finish his career here when it's clear he won't be able to lead the Cavs to a title (like he still potentially could now).