Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Sterling Banned for Life From NBA; Reaction to NBA Decision

Aired April 29, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN. Breaking news here. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We've been watching the last hour and a half, the positive fallout, the "euphoria," to quote one of the former players here who's rejoining me, Thurl Bailey, the euphoria in hearing from the NBA commissioner Adam Silver announcing that the L.A. Clippers owner is banned for life -- strong language -- banned for life from the NBA, from the Clippers. And he's urging a vote immediately to force the sale of the team.

So Thurl, and Jerry Stackhouse also joining me, former player, now retired, Thurl, first to you, you have to imagine the L.A. Clippers were all sitting around a TV somewhere, right, watching the commissioner, and the news that he just broke about an hour ago. Now, moving forward, we are mere hours from game five tonight, back home at the staples center. Are we back to basketball, back to business as usual?

THURL BAILEY, VICE CHAIRMAN, NBA RETIRED PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: Yes, I think so. It's just annoying that the process has just begun. But I think we are back to basketball as usual, knowing the decision that Commissioner Silver handed down.

It's interesting because during the past All-Star weekend as a Retired Players Organization, myself, Otis Birdsong as the chairman and Arnie Fielkow as CEO, sat down with Adam Silver, and one of the things that we discovered is he was very appreciative of what he had learned from David Stern from his tenure.

We instantly knew that he wanted to make his own mark in this league, and I know he didn't know that this was coming, or he'd have to do it in this way, but what a way to start out your tenure.

I would think that right now, Clippers fans, basketball fans are as euphoric as I am about getting back to basketball.

BALDWIN: Was your conversation with Commissioner Silver after the story broke?

BAILEY: No. No, this was back during the All-Star weekend.

BALDWIN: Oh, got you. OK. I was going to ask a follow-up to that.

But -- so back to basketball, the process is just beginning, you say. How long -- we really don't have a timetable on this.

We heard from Commissioner Silver saying he's urging this vote as soon as possible, but we really don't have a concrete date, thus far.

What would satisfy you as far as when this vote should take place?

BAILEY: What I took from Commissioner Silver's announcement, and the answering of the questions was, he's ready to move immediately on it.

BALDWIN: But are the owners?

BAILEY: And I believe that he will, but the owners -- you know what, when you talk about how personal this was to Commissioner Silver, I would think that the man that you hire, I'm talking about the owners here, that you're going to be putting a lot of the onus on him to really run this league.

And I have to believe -- I have to believe -- that when those owners are in that room, and they have to make a decision on the ownership of the Clippers, as it pertains to Sterling, that a lot of that's going to be, you know, self-reflection on where you stand.

You've got to take a stand. This is the time for you to do it. And so I would think that the owners would be -- I know. I worked for the Utah Jazz and I know the Miller organization, and I can be pretty certain that they are going to be in the corner of Commissioner Silver.

And I would hope that the majority would be like David mentioned a little while ago.

BALDWIN: They just need three-quarters, three-quarters to force the sale. Thurl, thank you. Stand by.

Jerry Stackhouse, sitting next to me, former Tarheel, 18 seasons with the NBA, most recently with the Nets up in Brooklyn, and just -- I just want to focus, again, back on the players.

As you were saying, play a game. This is supposed to be an exciting time of basketball, especially for a team who is finally doing pretty good, right, The Clippers.

What are these players thinking right now?

JERRY STACKHOUSE, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Well, I think everybody's excited and happy to get back to playing.

I think all of the gestures that you saw, turning the shirts inside out, walking to half-court, wearing the black socks, they may still do that to show solidarity.

But now it's over. What we wanted to have happen, all that, was for Adam Silver to do what he did today, and I think now we can get back to enjoying the game, enjoying the play-offs, and hopefully the fans and everyone to come out and support the team the way they have in the past. They can make a long run. We would like to see a positive story with the Clippers. Not that I'm saying I wish they beat the Warriors, but I would love to see them extend their play, and be a really good feel- good story for our league.

BALDWIN: We're not in California. You're not behind closed doors. I'm thinking ahead now to Coach Rivers talking to his guys, ahead of Game Five.

They've had a lot in their heads beyond basketball the last couple of days. What do you think he says to him in the locker room?

STACKHOUSE: I think it's back to business now. Back to -- I think he will address the fans, or someone, Chris Paul, someone address the fans --

BALDWIN: Publicly addressing the fans tonight.

STACKHOUSE: Publicly address the fans tonight to let them know that they appreciate their support. It's going to be crazy in there tonight. I mean, you already know it.

What happened today, Donald Sterling, no longer a part of the picture, a lot of fans have been wanting that to happen for a long, long type.

For that to finally come to fruition tonight, they're going to be excited. I think the team will be excited, and it's going to be really good game.

BALDWIN: What does Doc say to his guys? Just play ball.

STACKHOUSE: Hey, man, let's just do what we do. Share the ball and defend. It's back to the Xs and Os now.

All of these other distractions, I mean, they tried to downplay. Chris downplayed it. You know, Chris didn't have his best game, but he downplayed it, said it wasn't about any of the others things; it's was about what happened on the basketball court.

Really now it's about the basketball court. Really now they've got to go out and win. They're in a tough spot. They've got to come back and try to get this game or it could be over.

BALDWIN: OK, Jerry Stackhouse, thank you very much.

STACKHOUSE: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Quick break here. We continue our special coverage on CNN, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: 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'm 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: So, that was the commissioner of the NBA speaking last hour, as we have been waiting really to know what would happen to the future of the L.A. Clippers owner, Donald Sterling.

We're getting tweets from LeBron and Magic, Charles Barkley, "Amazing day for the NBA."

Let's go to L.A. We're a couple of hours away from the big game at home, Clippers, Golden State Warriors, a couple of hours away from that home game. Stephanie Elam is there for us.

Stephanie, how is the mood in L.A. now that we know the news?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what we want to see, if there's going to be a protest.

They were prepared for that out here, Brooke. I look around, the road is still blockaded, they're not letting people come through here.

It seems the players are happy with this. That's across the NBA, which is obviously going to change things here.

You can already hear that the players are calling -- that the commissioner is calling for fans to come out tonight and support the teams during the play-off season.

They say these guys playing, they need your support. They need you out there cheering for them. They're saying, look, you got a response within three days since the scandal broke. We were on it.

Something's happened before this game here, because of that, they're saying, we can now stand behind the commissioner, stand behind these teams and we can play.

The interesting thing will be that how will fans show their support for these gentlemen when they take the court tonight.

It does seem across the board, take a look at social media and who's tweeting, it's players from all teams. It seems very united on this front and across races, as well, that this is what needed to happen. Now we can go back to focusing on basketball. I think for some of us it may be a little hard to do, at least hopefully they will do this. There will be a press conference before the game.

Yesterday on the call, Doc Rivers said he was trying to figure out which way was the best way to address the fans tomorrow if this resolution wasn't here.

So there may be some sort of address that is made before the game, before it actually starts. We may look for that. They were already considering it.

At the same time here, they want everyone, all the fans to get back to supporting their favorite teams, and Kevin Johnson calling them the "lifeblood" and that they add texture to this game and they want them there.

They're definitely making that plea for them to come out tonight.

BALDWIN: We heard from the NBA commissioner. We've heard from the L.A. mayor. We've heard from players, both former and current.

Stephanie Elam, thank you so much.

Have to assume at some point before the game tonight we will hear from the Clippers coach, Doc Rivers.

Mel Robbins, let me bring you in, your voice in, CNN commentator here. You wrote a strongly worded piece. Let me just quote you on our op-ed page.

You write this. "If the recording is proven to be Sterling" -- and we now know it was, according to the NBA commissioner -- "the NBA has a wide-open court and one shot to shatter the glass on this dunk."

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Oh, baby.

BALDWIN: Wow, yes.

ROBBINS: Well, you know what, Brooke, the commissioner just threw an alley-oop to the owners, and they better take that sucker and shatter the glass.

I disagree with some of the reservations that the rest of the panel has expressed. I don't think there is any scenario that you can conceive of where these owners actually keep Sterling in the league.

Number one, the brand and the sponsors have already spoken, and they ran for the hills.

Number two, there's the fact of inertia, Brooke. When you have this much momentum moving in one direction, there's no way the owners are actually going to step up and say, no way, we're going to keep this guy that the world wants out of the basketball league.

And finally, think about it from a common-sense perspective. Here you are in the meeting. Are you going to be the one owner or the one owner group that says, you know, forget about what everybody else believes?

BALDWIN: It's a private vote, but as so many people on the panel have noted, things get leaked.

ROBBINS: Here's the other thing, Brooke, that I think is really interesting.

ESPN actually has been quoting the bylaws as released in 2005 by one of their sources, and it only takes one owner to initiate the charges against Sterling.

Then once the charges are initiated, Sterling has five days to respond, and then ten days later is when they hold this meeting. That's at least under a former contract.

Now, when I think about this, the other thing that's really interesting is I looked up the ownership structure of the Clippers, and the Clippers are 100-percent owned by Donald Sterling.

So unlike a club, say, like the Celtics that have three co-owners, where you have other people involved, this is actually a very clear shot to get this guy out.

I would be absolutely shocked if these owners decide to keep him as part of their club.

BALDWIN: You're not the only one who would be shocked.

It is not a done deal as of yet. They have to have three-quarters majority. Yes, it would be behind closed doors. You have to assume some of the votes would be yeas or nays. It's not a done deal as of yet.

What is a done deal as I'm speaking from Commissioner Silver is that this guy, the longest tenured owner of an NBA team, is banned for life from the NBA and anything Clippers.

Mel Robbins, thank you so much. If you want to read Mel's column, you can. Go to CNN.com/opinion.

And more of this tremendous day beyond basketball here as it pertains to the owner of the L.A. Clippers, the sport that the playoffs continue tonight, hours away from Game Five.

Special coverage continues, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. Let's talk legalities here, this breaking news story today, because the NBA penalties against L.A. Clippers' owner Donald Sterling opened a range of legal questions.

Here to answer some of those questions is Jeff Toobin, our senior legal analyst. Hello, sir.

Let's begin with what we heard from Commissioner Silver here, that the ban for life $2.5 million fine, strongly urging of the NBA owners to force the sale.

Is this all a done deal when it comes out of the commissioner's mouth? Could Sterling fight this in court?

BALDWIN: As far as I can tell, it is a done deal. Remember, we're not talking about a law enforcement agency here. We're talking about people who have signed a contract together.

The owners of the NBA sign a contract with the league as a group and with each other, and they agree to certain rules. This contract is not public. Parts of it have been leaked. Adam Silver made references to part of it.

But obviously I haven't read the full contract. But certainly as I understand the contract, Sterling, like all of the owners, has agreed that the commissioner has the power to fine him for $2.5 million, has agreed that he has the power to suspend an owner, even for life.

And there's a provision of the contract that says three-fourths of the owners can force him out.

So as far as I can tell, this is all simply an interpretation of the contract that seems, at least on the surface, iron clad.

BALDWIN: Let's get to the three-quarters of the vote here for the forced sale. What do we know about how that vote would happen, how it would take place?

TOOBIN: The NBA owners meet, occasionally, but in the real world, as I understand it, the NBA, like all professional leagues operate on a sort of 80-20 rule. Twenty percent of the owners have 80 percent of the power.