Clippers owner Sterling banned for life by the NBA
NEW YORK (AP) –Â Issuing about the strongest rebuke that he could, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life Tuesday for making racist comments in a recorded conversation, the first step toward forcing a sale of the club and permanently removing Sterling from the league.
Silver also fined Sterling $2.5 million, and again expressed outrage.
“I fully expect to get the support I need from the other NBA owners to remove him,” Silver said.
Several owners immediately chimed in with support of Silver’s decision. Sterling, the league’s longest-tenured owner and someone with an estimated net worth of about $2 billion, did not offer any immediate comment.
The penalties, which were announced only three days after the scandal broke, are the harshest ever issued by the league and among the stiffest punishments ever given to an owner in professional sports. Silver said a league investigation found that Sterling was in fact the person on the audiotapes that were released over the weekend and immediately sent shock waves throughout the game.
Read more at: NBA.com
