Why are we not surprised.
We don’t have to explain to you who Donald Sterling is at this point. If you don’t know, you’ve got either a really nice bed, or really bad cell service.
It was brought to the public’s attention today that, the recent (and hopefully, successful) push by the NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the rest of the NBA owners to oust Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers isn’t the first such attempt.
Over 20 years ago, in 1982 to be specific, the NBA made a similar attempt to remove Donald Sterling as owner or the Clippers because of numerous violations. He was mistreating his players, providing them with less-than-satisfactory travel arrangements, and was late on several payments, including hotel accommodations.
Furthermore, in what’s become a pretty bizarre coincidence, in ’82, Sterling was also victim of being unknowingly taped. He was apparently recorded of making derogatory comments towards drafting Ralph Sampson, an African-American player and the #1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft, which became somewhat of a controversy.
Eventually, the NBA gathered a committee together to help vote Sterling out of ownership, but no real verdict ever materialized, and after Sterling flew under the radar for a significant amount of time, the issue dissipated into irrelevancy.
