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Breitbart
8
Things That Won't Get You Banned by the NBA
by
Ben Shapiro
29
Apr 2014
With
the lifetime ban by the NBA of despicably racist Los Angeles Clippers
owner Donald Sterling, the door is wide open to further sports bans
on people who say offensive things in private.
That,
of course, is why Sterling was ousted. Everyone knew for decades that
Sterling was a disgusting pig racist – he had federal lawsuits led
by the Department of Justice against him for discriminating against
blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in housing (one allegation in the 2006
DOJ lawsuit: he said black people “smell”). That would have been
an excellent reason for ousting Sterling years ago. The NBA did
nothing. Neither did the NAACP, which gave him a lifetime achievement
award. But now that his 31-year-old consort has released tape of him
saying racist things, the thought police have sprung into action –
and the NBA has followed.
Good
riddance to Sterling. But let’s understand that ginning up the mob
based on private feelings is a dangerous business. We now live in a
world in which racial feelings are more important than racist acts
(as Sterling’s housing discrimination non-ban shows), and in which
bad thought trumps bad action.
Here,
then, is a brief list of things that will not get you banned by a
sports league for life. The good news: if we tape record all of these
people and then hand the tape to Harvey Levin, presumably we can get
them banned relatively quickly. Because privacy now extends only to
comments with which we agree as a society.
1.
Discriminating against black people in housing. Donald Sterling, as
mentioned above, settled a lawsuit from the Department of Justice in
2009 in which the DOJ alleged that Sterling had discriminated against
Hispanics, blacks, and families without children in housing.
According to the lawsuit, Sterling said that “black tenants smell
and attract vermin.” The NBA did not react. When specifically asked
today, NBA commissioner Adam Silver explicitly said that the NBA’s
ban on Sterling had nothing to do with past actions, only his nasty
views. Because words speak louder than actions.
2.
Strangling somebody. In 1997, Golden State Warriors All-Star Latrell
Sprewell, playing for coach P.J. Carlesimo, decided to go berserk
after Carlesimo asked him to “put a little mustard” on his
passes. Sprewell then wrapped his hands around Carlesimo’s neck and
dragged him across the floor for seven seconds. He then emerged later
and punched Carlesimo. Two years earlier, he had accosted a teammate
with a two-by-four. He was suspended for a grand total of 68 games…
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