The NBA's commissioner came down hard Tuesday on Los Angeles
Clippers owner Donald Sterling, ordering him out of his team's business and
pushing to force him to sell over racist remarks that caused a firestorm since
becoming public days ago.
Adam Silver detailed
Sterling's punishment of a lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine -- the
"maximum amount" allowed per league guidelines -- at a press
conference eight hours before Sterling's Clippers were to tip off in the fifth
game of a tightly contested first-round playoff series with the Golden State Warriors.
Silver's decision was met with immediate support from NBA owners,
players and others connected to the league who have been calling for swift,
firm punishment ever since TMZ posted audio featuring the incendiary comments.
"I hope that every bigot in this country sees what happened
to Mr. Sterling and recognizes that if he can fall, so can you,"
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA All-Star who was tasked with
leading the NBA players union's efforts on this matter.
Under the lifetime ban, Sterling is prohibited from attending NBA
games or practices, stepping foot inside any Clippers' facility, taking part in
business or personnel decisions, or having a role in league activities such as
attending NBA Board of Governors meetings.
Silver, who succeeded longtime NBA leader David Stern in February,
also insisted he will do "everything in my power" to compel the NBA
Board of Governors to "force a sale" of the Clippers.
If Sterling does sell the team, he stands to profit considerably:
He bought the Clippers for $12 million in 1981, and the team is now worth $575
million, according to Forbes magazine.
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