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L.A. Clippers Owner Banned for Life; Reaction to NBA Actions

Aired April 29, 2014 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But, of course, owners who vote for it are proud of it will, let's just say, leak out what their decision is.

And I'm sure we will hear in the coming days some owners make a stand publicly because they want to and they know that it will engender support among players and fans. But it is going to be interesting to see whether the owners go for this. Obviously, Adam Silver wouldn't have gotten up in front of the whole world today and said that he was going to do this if he wasn't confident it was possible.

And there's of course now that he's gone and said this, he's making a little bit of public push here. Right? Even if he didn't necessarily have the votes this morning, the fact that he has come out here and what he said was so popular, being met with, as you saw there in L.A., universal acceptance, there's now going to be pressure on all these owners to do what he says is the right thing.

This is interesting. We saw Roger Goodell do this a couple years ago in the NFL, they basically use public pressure, concern over a bunch of player arrests to make a power grab and really solidify power in the commissioner's office in the NFL. Maybe Adam Silver is doing the same here in the NBA. It's pretty fascinating and it's certainly in the service of a very good cause.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Rachel Nichols, thank you so much, host of "UNGUARDED," inside that NBA news conference with the commissioner.

Let's go back to L.A.

This is Kevin Johnson taking some questions from the crowd. Let's listen.

KEVIN JOHNSON, MAYOR OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: I'm giving my personal commitment to make that happen. That was pretty clear to me.

Yes? I'm sorry? I think fans should come out and root on the Clippers or root on the Warriors or whatever team is playing today.

(APPLAUSE)

JOHNSON: The fans' voices have been heard.

When we say one family, yes, we talk about the owners. Yes, we talk about the players. Yes, we talk about elected officials. But at the end of the day, the fans are the lifeblood. They're the texture in which this league has a spirit.

So the fans need to come out. You know what the fans could have done? If commissioner Silver would have been wishy-washy, if commissioner Silver would have not come out as forceful as he did, then there's no reason for fans to not to say, we're going to boycott and we're going to protest. But when you get what you want in three days' time, you can't move any quicker than that.

All of us back here, we have a responsibility to make sure there's due process. We have a responsibility not to be too hasty. But once commissioner Silver said, that was his voice, we all were ready to rush to judgment at that point.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

JOHNSON: I absolutely do. Let me just speak on behalf of the Sacramento Kings owner.

Mayor, are you OK with that? Yes, OK. We're not in the playoffs this year. But if we had two teams, one of the two might be in.

So in terms of the Sacramento Kings, our owner, Vivek Ranadive, is one of two majority owners, African-American, Michael Jordan, Indian in Vivek Ranadive. Those two people, they reflect the diversity of this league going forward.

Our owner, Vivek, immediately came out and said zero tolerance. He didn't wait to see if it was OK. He didn't go check for approval. He just did the right thing. We have heard from a dozen owners who are all saying the same thing. They have got to go through their process and they're going to do that. But I was pretty clear and confident that commissioner Silver was resolute in terms of, I talked to owners. They're going to support, I believe, what I think should happen in this league.

I think that was very clear. We're going to take one last question. Yes?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

ROGER MASON, NBA PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: The players haven't set a timetable. But the message has been clear. My phone's been going off the hook. We want an immediate vote on the issue, immediate. And that's what I meant earlier when I said we're not quite satisfied, because we want it done ASAP. And that's where we're all on that stance.

BALDWIN: All right, we're going to pull away from some of the Q&A here.

But, again, just past the top of the hour, let me just quickly tell you the breaking news from the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, just in the last couple of minutes, announcing from this Manhattan hotel, saying that the owner, the longest tenured owner of an NBA team, Donald Sterling, is now banned for life. That was the language he used, banned for life from anything L.A. Clipper-related, anything NBA-related. And he will be fined under the constitution the maximum penalty, $2.5 million. And the third point here, the third point from the commissioner, that he, the commissioner, will be urging owners to force the sale of the L.A. Clipper team.

Let me bring back in my panel here.

And Thurl Bailey, let me go to you, retired player, NBA Retired Players Association vice president. I haven't heard from you yet since we heard from the commissioner. I want your thoughts, and then, secondly, I'm curious what you think -- how you think the coach of this team, Doc Rivers, should respond, if he should respond ahead of game five tonight.

THURL BAILEY, VICE CHAIRMAN, NBA RETIRED PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: First of all, let me tell you that I was just short of euphoric when I heard the decision.

And I say that because as I'm listening to commissioner Silver talk, it wasn't just about what he's charged to do as a commissioner. It was personal. It was personal to him. And you could tell that.

BALDWIN: You could tell.

BAILEY: And so you really could. And I think anybody who saw that press conference couldn't help but be emotionally charged.

And I think, what I felt was the fact that now you have a commissioner who's going to be in the room with his bosses. And now his bosses have to make a decision, not just on a business sense. They have to reflect within themselves and say what kind of a person am I? Am I going to stand for this? Or is it just about ownership or is it just about friendship for me? Should this happen in the league?

I was just -- I was super, super thrilled with commissioner Stern's (sic) decision. And it wouldn't have mattered how much money you fined him, even if it was over the $2.5 million. You know, Don Sterling is a very rich man. He will continue to be rich.

But I was absolutely thrilled. You talk about Doc Rivers. I have no doubt that he will be thrilled as well with the decision that has come down.

BALDWIN: Let me hit pause in the conversation with the word, euphoric, from you, Thurl.

We have to take a quick break, as we have been basically rolling coverage ever since the top of the press conference from the NBA commissioner.

Quick break, much bigger conversation ahead here live on CNN's special coverage -- back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: What a day here and a story that has really trumped basketball.

To quote Kevin Johnson we heard live in Los Angeles, this story transcends sports here, the story about L.A. Clipper owner Donald Sterling and the news, the breaking news here as far as his future is concerned.

This is massive today.

Let me bring in our panel before we replay some of what the commissioner said for you.

CNN correspondent Stephanie Elam, she is live outside the Staples Center, hours away from game five tonight. The Clippers are home here, the first time they're playing at home since the controversy erupted other the weekend. Thurl Bailey good enough to stick around with me. He is the vice chairman of the NBA Retired Players Association, and a former NBA player himself, Jerry Stackhouse sitting next to me, a former NBA star, played 18 years in the league, and David Cornwell, a sports attorney.

So we will have a big conversation here.

But in case you are just joining us on CNN, bombshell news here from the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: The central findings of the investigation are that the man whose voice is heard on the recording and on a second recording from the same conversation that was released on Sunday is Mr. Sterling, and that the hateful opinions voiced by that man are those of Mr. Sterling.

The views expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful. That they came from an NBA owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage. Sentiments of this kind are contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multicultural, and multiethnic league.

I am personally distraught that the views expressed by Mr. Sterling came from within an institution that has historically taken such a leadership role in matters of race relations.

Effective immediately, I am banning Mr. Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA. Mr. Sterling may not attend any NBA games or practices. He may not be present at any Clippers facility, and he may not participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team.

He will also be barred from attending NBA Board of Governors meetings or participating in any other league activity.

I am also fining Mr. Sterling $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the NBA constitution. These funds will be donated to organizations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts that will be jointly selected by the NBA and its Players Association.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaking there behind that podium in a New York hotel room just about 20 minutes ago.

We are just now here at CNN getting a statement from the team, from the L.A. Clippers. They have released this statement. Let me read it to you regarding this ban for life of the Clippers owner.

Quote: "We wholeheartedly support and embrace the decision by the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver today. Now the healing process begins here."

Short, sweet, to the point. Again, just showing all of you if we can throw it up, if you go to NBA.com, the three words that you will see on this black and white image, "We are one," with the L.A. Clippers logo there below it.

Jerry Stackhouse, sitting next to you and watching this whole thing play out, just being real, we're seeing all these tweets from all these current and previous players thrilled. Your phone's been blowing up ever since we have been in here, I imagine from folks who are thrilled with what we just heard, the swift justice, if you will, from the commissioner.

But do you have any doubt in your mind that once these 30 owners get together, and they need three-fourths' majority for Sterling to be out, do you have any doubt in your mind that won't happen?

JERRY STACKHOUSE, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Well, there's still a slight bit of doubt in my mind.

It's great that the commissioner came down and did exactly what he did, what he was supposed to do, forced the issue, and made sure that he hit him hard, you know, banned him for life, gave him a big fine, but really forcing these owners who -- like you said, we have got one of the longest tenured owners in Donald Sterling.

Some of these owners have come through to this league through him in a certain amount of way. And I think the vote probably will be behind closed doors. Are they going to stand -- you're going to only need about eight or nine to not have this happen.

It takes, I think, three-quarters, three-fourths of the votes, not two-thirds, three-fourths.

(CROSSTALK)

STACKHOUSE: That's a lot of owners. And I think that he may have some support, and some people that maybe not feel the same way that he feels, but this feels like that they don't want to go down this slippery slope, as Mark Cuban said, of being able to allow the commissioner to ban with other owners to take my franchise away.

BALDWIN: So, maybe some doubt that this man will continue to be an owner, continue making money and just not have anything to do, banned for life from the NBA or anything Clippers.

Let me come back to you.

But Stephanie Elam -- we have Stephanie Elam. She is outside the Staples Center, hours away from game five. The team is back home.

Stephanie, you were saying earlier you're already seeing some billboards changes, possibly some previous sponsors. As we know, so many sponsors have pulled out from the L.A. Clippers. And L.A., it's a two-team city, but really today backing one team.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Definitely. And, Brooke, it is really interesting to me that since this news broke, we have not heard anything really coming from Sterling himself, saying anything.

Yesterday, when coach Doc Rivers had his press conference, I asked him a question, if he had heard from Sterling. His answer was really telling to me, because he didn't say, no. He said, I was asked if I needed to speak to Donald. And I passed. I felt like it wasn't the time.

It wasn't even like it sounded to me, I interpreted that to say, he didn't reach out to me. He interpreted as the people reached out and asked if I needed that. That's not something I needed.

And then listening to commissioner Silver today, he's saying that he did not express any remorse, but he did admit that that was him on the tape. So now we don't have to say allegedly, because now we know, according to...

BALDWIN: Throw alleged out the window.

(CROSSTALK)

ELAM: Out the window. So he said these words. This is what he said. And then all of this time, he's had nothing to say. No remorse. Nothing else coming out of that.

That is also very telling. It's very hard for anyone to get behind a man who's not going to stand and say, you know what, I shouldn't have said anything like that. And now the other issues here are these young men that play for the Clippers in the middle of playoffs, something that they have wanted to do. Now they can focus on this game.

They can focus on the task at hand and not worry so much about this distraction. They are hoping that it means the fans will come out and support them as players, as a team and not take a look at this broader issue.

One other point that I want to get in here, Brooke, is the fact of race.

BALDWIN: Sure.

BAILEY: I know a lot of people keep saying this is about black people. I really hope people would realize it's not. It's about people in general. I thought commissioner Silver's answer to that one question about him being Jewish and Sterling being Jewish, and him saying, I felt this and I responded to this as a human being, is very telling.

The fact that the current players came out with Steve Nash as a representative also telling. They are united on this. I know it's playoff season, but right now they are united on this as human beings. That is also really telling and why this is a key moment in American history.

BALDWIN: Sports transcends. Kevin Johnson said it. He was like, this is like a Jason Collins, this is like a Jackie Robinson moment, and I think you're absolutely right. I think will Donald Sterling respond whatsoever to this news? Who knows. Who knows. We wait and see.

I have a feeling some people don't care. They want to play basketball. They want to play through tonight, game five, and it's 2- 2 so far. We have got to have a bigger conversation. A lot more to talk about. Will Doc Rivers address the fans? How should the fans react tonight? What about the team, what about moving forward in the NBA and beyond?

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: On this day, Adam Silver is not only the owners' commissioner. He is also the players' commissioner. And we're proud to call him our commissioner.

(APPLAUSE)

JOHNSON: I want to also say, this is a very stark reminder that we still have a lot of work to do. Yes, we have an African-American president.

Yes, justice happened in a swift manner and forceful. Yes, that occurred today. But these events remind all of us that hatred and bigotry are far from over. I hope that every bigot in this country sees what happened to Mr. Sterling and recognizes that, if he can fall, so can you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

That was Kevin Johnson speaking minutes ago in Los Angeles standing alongside a lot of former and current NBA players, in addition to the mayor of Los Angeles. Johnson is the mayor of Sacramento. He's a former player. He's an adviser to the NBA Players Association here, as we continue to hear reaction to the news from commissioner Silver with regard to the L.A. Clipper owner's racist remarks. We can now definitively say, according to the NBA, the man we have all heard on that tape is in fact Donald Sterling. And he is banned for life from the NBA.

Let me bring back my panel.

And, Rachel Nichols, let me go to you in New York.

You were in the room. You had question number two to commissioner Silver, talking about the ownership group, and this urging of this forced vote. But back on Kevin Johnson's point, I wrote this down because this really struck me. This is so personal to so many people, including the commissioner of the NBA.

It was so clear just looking at him, but Kevin Johnson said, I have a message to bigots. If he, being Donald Sterling, if he can fall, so can you.

NICHOLS: Yes.

Look, we had President Obama comment on this over the weekend. That tells you the far reaches that this decision and this incident, you know, stretches to. One thing that President Obama said that I thought was so insightful is, he said, look, a situation like this shows us that this racism still exists in the world. But the shock caused over it also shows us that maybe that we're making some progress.

And the fact that action is being called, that actions in this case today are now being taken, it shows that as a country we're making some progress going to where we want to be. I think that this was another statement today that, hey, we are moving toward the place that we would all like to be as Americans, how we treat each other, how we talk about each other.

And I think that this is really a bold -- a lot of times, we look at sports as a microcosm of our society. Right? We laugh, we cheer together, we talk about teammates, no matter what color or background that they come from, banding together and how we would like to be like that in real life. Well, guess what, we did that today. And I think that that was a very positive step.

BALDWIN: The story transcends sports, which was exactly what the mayor of Los Angeles was saying.

Rachel, thank you so much for us in New York.

And, David Cornwell, let me bring you back in, as a sports attorney, just to talk about the legalities of all of this. And so when we heard from commissioner Silver earlier, and he said that Sterling is banned for life from anything L.A. Clippers, anything NBA, they slapped the maximum fine, $2.5 million, and he is now strongly urging, effective immediately, the owners group, these 30 owners to basically vote him out, to force the sale of the Clippers team so he will no longer have his position. My question to you is, because I keep reading about Donald Sterling and I kept reading that he is litigious by nature, could he fight any of this in court, or is this a done deal?

DAVID CORNWELL, SPORTS ATTORNEY: It's pretty much a done deal. But that doesn't mean he won't try to fight it in court.

But the NBA constitution provides for arbitration of disputes between the clubs, the club owners and commissioner's office, or between clubs themselves. So if he were to go to court, I think a judge would kick it out and say you have to resolve this by the arbitration provisions under the constitution and bylaws. And guess who the arbitrator is? The commissioner.

BALDWIN: Aha.

CORNWELL: And it's not appealable. So, he already knows what the result will be. That doesn't mean he won't file a lawsuit for some leverage purposes or something like that.

But when you hear the term lifetime ban, that's about as close as taking a team away from somebody as you can.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CORNWELL: And I have been trying to think of somebody other than Pete Rose that has had a lifetime ban in sports. And I can't think of anybody off the top of my head. So this is pretty significant.

BALDWIN: What about -- and we don't know -- we don't know which way this possible vote could go. As you pointed out perfectly earlier you have to have the three-quarters majority for them to force the sale of this team.

But what, if before that even happens, there are players who aren't comfortable still playing under this man? Even though he is banned for life, as of now, he's still functioning as the owner of this team. Is it possible for a player to want to get out of a contract because of this?

CORNWELL: They may want to, but it's not possible to get out of the contract. The term of the contract is going to hold despite the conduct of the owner.

So I think that you will see, as Adam suggested, commissioner Silver putting some pressure on owners to act swiftly on this vote. I would imagine that the fact that he didn't take action today, or announce it today, is an indication that the owners are not yet ready to do this. But by making the -- urging them publicly -- one of the things you have to do as a commissioner is you have to rule your bosses. And one of the...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: These are all his bosses, right? All these 30 owners, including Donald Sterling, are the commissioner's bosses. CORNWELL: Exactly. Exactly.

What he has to do is build -- you do as a commissioner is build consensus. And by putting public press, saying publicly that this is what I want as commissioner, it essentially says to the one-fourth plus one that would vote against this, to explain why that's not what you want as one of his partners.

So I think this thing is probably going to go in the direction of Donald Sterling ultimately not being an owner.

BALDWIN: David, to be clear, when this vote -- when and if this vote does take place, based upon the strong urging from the commissioner, it is a private vote, correct?

CORNWELL: Oh, certainly.

It is a private vote. The results will be announced. But, as Rachel suggested, the nature of the issue is such that I think that it's likely to be unanimous. But if it's not, everybody who voted for will make sure that every knows that they voted for taking him away.

BALDWIN: Leaks?

CORNWELL: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Leaks.

OK. David Cornwell, sports attorney there, thank you so much.

Have to go to a quick break in here on this breaking news. We will be right back with special coverage here live on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)