Racist Clippers Owner Donald Sterling: What You Can Do

This blog believes that online activism is an important way for all 'villagers' to protest the continued racism of Donald Sterling. We actively support the call to action by the folks at Color of Change!

We've known for decades that Donald Sterling is a racist scumbag and sexual harasser who shouldn't be the owner of an NBA team.

The tape released Friday — which allegedly features Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend he doesn't want her to bring Black people to Clippers games or "broadcast her associations" with Black people on Instagram — is just the most recent example of Sterling's well-documented hostility towards Black people.

Donald Sterling should not be allowed to continue profiting from the achievements of some of the world's most exceptional Black athletes. Major companies that rely on business from Black folks shouldn't be lining the pockets of an NBA owner who doesn't want us at the games. Stripping the Clippers of their corporate sponsorships is an important first step towards removing Donald Sterling as their owner.

Join ColorOfChange in demanding that corporations end their sponsorship of the Clippers until Donald Sterling is no longer associated with the team.

Since he acquired the Clippers in 1981, Donald Sterling has repeatedly demonstrated racial animosity both inside the Clippers organization and out:

• Former General Manager Elgin Baylor charged in a racial discrimination suit that Sterling ran the Clippers with the "vision of a Southern plantation–type structure" asking him to create a team of “poor Black boys from the South and a white head coach.”
• When interviewing one prospective white coach, Sterling reportedly asked "I wanna know why you think you can coach these n**gers."
• Despite complaints from players, Sterling has made a disturbing habit of of bringing women into the locker room and saying things like "look at these beautiful Black bodies."
• Sterling is a ruthless, bigoted slumlord. In 2009, he settled a case with the Department of Justice paying the largest settlement ever obtained in a government housing discrimination suit. He was accused of systematically denying rental opportunities to prospective Black and Hispanic tenants across his Southern California properties. In court documents, he stated that "Black tenants smell and attract vermin."

The NBA is a league with a distinctly Black identity.  And most of us ... unlike Donald Sterling ... know that Black History Month is not celebrated in March! Someone with such vile views towards Black people and a wretched past of racial discrimination should not be allowed to profit in a league where more than 75% of the players are Black.  Snoop Dogg agrees!

Donald Sterling and Adam Silver

The NBA has a larger share of Black viewers than any other major U.S. sport. The Clippers and the NBA share a number of crucial corporate sponsors which count on a Black NBA audience as customers. Assuming his investigation verifies the authenticity of the recording, new NBA commissioner Adam Silver should demonstrate that naked bigotry will not be tolerated and do everything in his power to remove Sterling as the Clippers owner — including an indefinite suspension. Pressure from ColorOfChange.org members will encourage sponsors and the NBA to cut ties with and punish Donald Sterling.

Sign the petition. Tell corporations: Drop the Clippers and their racist owner.

Related articles

• Why the Clippers made the wrong decision by playing after Donald Sterling's racist comments
• Donald Sterling, Los Angeles Clippers Owner, Caught on Tape Being a HUGE Racist
• Magic Johnson blasts Clippers owner Donald Sterling
• NBA Players React to Alleged Donald Sterling Racist Rant
• LA Clippers Racism Controversy: Obama Rips Donald Sterling, New Audio Surfaces, NAACP Cancels Award

Our Nation's All-Star

They are playing the 2014 NBA All-Star game later today in New Orleans. We'll watch Kevin Durant, LeBron James and the rest of the NBA crew. However, our nation's true all-star is Barack Obama. My hope is that Barack Obama will be throw down a slam dunk on foreign policy, economic policy and so forth this year!

Happy Birthday: Bill Russell, 80 Years Old Today

I truly dislike the Boston Celtics! I would rather root for any other sports team in the history of the world. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I grew up in an era when the Los Angeles Lakers were consistently bitch-slapped by the Celtics. All I could do was truly dislike everything about the Celtics.

I am now a grown-azzed man, but, I still truly dislike the Boston Celtics. One thing changed over the past few years. I have come to respect the engine of their legacy ... Bill Russell.

His college basketball team won 55 straight games, including NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956. He was on gold-medal winning basketball team at the 1956 Olympics. His NBA team won 11 NBA championships, including eight consecutive from 1959 to 1966. He was a five-time league MVP (1958, 1961-63, 1965), 12-time All-Star Game participant (MVP in 1963), Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1968 and The Sporting News Athlete of the Decade in 1970. He averaged 15.1 ppg and 22.5 rpg for his career.

In 1967, the Celtics made Russell the first Black NBA head coach. Russell led Boston to the 1968 and 1969 NBA titles.

After awhile it becomes counterproductive to playa-hate on a brother that is as good as Bill Russell. It is for that reason that I pay homage to him today. I still truly dislike the Boston Celtics ... but, I got much-respect for Bill Russell.

Happy Birthday Mr. Russell!

Related articles

• Fans take to twitter to wish Bill Russell happy 80th birthday
• Esquire:Happy 80th Birthday, Bill Russell!
• Happy 80th birthday, Bill Russell
• Happy 80th Birthday, Bill Russell [VIDEO]

Wordless Wednesday: The Original 'Big Three' in the NBA

SOURCE: Pinterest, 'Let The Games Begin'

NBA Stars Support Obama Re-Election Campaign

I see that a number of current and retired NBA All-Stars ar getting political next month when they play in a basketball exhibition game to raise funds for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

Players who have confirmed they will play in the Obama Classic Basketball Game include Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Blake Griffin, John Wall, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Ray Allen.

Retired big men Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Patrick Ewing will also play in the game in Washington, D.C., on December 12.

Ticket prices range from $200 for general admission to $5,000 for court-side seats. Funds raised at the game will go to the Obama Victory Fund, an account managed by the Democratic Party and Obama's re-election campaign.

I began to imagine who I would want to be on my Electronic Village Classic Basketball Game. My dream team would include: Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson and Julius Erving.  I guess you can tell that I'm a lifetime fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, huh?!

Who would you want to play on your Classic Basketball Game?

Old School Friday: Pieces of a Dream

This is the time of year that I enjoy watching the NBA playoffs. I was born and raised in Los Angeles ... so I've been a Lakers fan for all of my life. The Lakers have won 16 world championships ... but, they've lost quite a few championships as well ... including the one in 1982-1983. That was the year that Moses Malone and the Philadelphia 76ers kicked our butt.

The Philadelphia 76ers were a remarkable team that year. Before the playoffs began, reporters asked how the playoffs would run. Malone answered "four, four, four" — in other words, predicting that the Sixers would sweep all three rounds to win the title, with the minimum 12 games. Malone's deep voice made his boast sound like "fo', fo', fo'."

The Sixers backed up Malone's boast. They demolished the East with a 65-17 record; swept New York in the Eastern Semifinals; beat Milwaukee in five; and then overwhelmed the Lakers in the NBA Finals in four straight. It was a playoff run with only one loss. Malone was named Most Valuable Player for both the regular season and the Finals.

A jazz group called Pieces of a Dream rephrased Malone's prediction as "fo', fi', fo'" (four, five, four) in a song that I still think about every year when the playoffs come around.

Do you remember it?



Pieces Of A Dream - Fo-fi-fo (Funk #24)
Uploaded by KSOSA. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.
Do you have any ol' school songs that you think about when basketball is being played? For that matter ... do you remember Pieces of a Dream at all?

What Should LeBron Do?

Have you seen the new Nike commercial featuring LeBron James? If not, check it out:





LeBron seems to be using this video to take some cheap shots at Michael Jordan (Hall of Fame speech fiasco) and Charles Barkley (donuts and role model clip). I figure that he's taking shots at others with the tattoo wiping vignette ... but, I don't know who.

Anyhow, I think that LeBron will figure out over time that the only thing he can do to improve his image is win a championship. Right now he is all talk with absolutely nothing to show for it. The best player in the game today is Kobe Bryant. LeBron can win as many MVP awards as he wants ... he can average a triple-double this year in Miami ... and it is all for naught if he can't lead a team to the NBA World Championship.

What should LeBron do? Win a championship.

Until then he should simply stop whining and just shut-up.

Perp Walk: Former Celtics Star Antoine Walker Faces 12 Years in Prison

Former Celtics star Antoine Walker is only 33-years old. He earned over $110 million in his 13-year NBA career. He was a NBA all-star when he played with the Boston Celtics. He was a NBA world champion when he played for Miami Heat in 2006.

Now, Walker faces 12-years behind bars because of his inability to pay $822,500 in gambling debts. County prosecutors in Las Vegas say he failed to make good on 10 checks totaling $1 million written to Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and the Red Rock Resort. He has since paid back $178,000.

Walker filed for bankruptcy last year and he is now reportedly broke. The Toronto Star ran an article alleging that that 60 percent of NBA athletes “go broke” five years after retiring.

Antoine Walker is a cautionary tale for other African American atheletes who feel that their success between the lines gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want outside of the lines.

When will we learn?

Wordless Wednesday: Los Angeles Lakers Sweep Boston Celtics in 2010 NBA Finals

Ea Shoushtari Leads LACES to Los Angeles City Basketball Championship

I had a chance to see my young cousin, Ea Shoushtari, in a LA City Schools playoff basketball game when I was on the west coast last month. Her team, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES), won the game by a wide margin ... something like 79-23.

I had to leave California before Ea and her LACES classmates could play the championship game. They were playing against the same team that beat them in the championship game last year. I was ecstatic to see the Los Angeles Times post on last night's game:

"Going into the fourth quarter of the City Section small schools girls' championship game, it was tied at 37-37. Then the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies scored the first 18 points of the quarter and never looked back in coming away with a 55-39 victory over View Park Prep at Roybal.

View Park (24-6) didn't score until there was 1:02 left. LACES (29-5) received three-pointers in the quarter from Ea Shoushtari, Rachel Totten and Jasmine Scott. Shoushtari finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Taylor Holeman added 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Danielle Pruitt had 11 points for View Park."

Congratulations young cousin! I (and ESPN) look forward to seeing how you and the rest of the Unicorns do next year when you are a high school senior!

This Week in Blackness: Whites-Only Basketball

We are very pleased to see Elon James White maintaining his promise to deliver a weekly diatribe on Blackness. The episode this week focused on issues such as 'whites-only' basketball league and unlimited corporate contributions.



What are your thoughts on the basketball league? or the recent Supreme Court ruling?

World Champion Los Angeles Lakers Visit Obama's White House ... sans Brian Winters

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. As such, I've been a Lakers fan for over 50 years ... way before it was popular!

The Lakers that I grew up with were always getting beat by the Boston Celtics or the New York Knicks. I remember when the Lakers from yesteryear like Mel Counts, Happy Hairston, Gail Goodrich, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Do you remember any of the Lakers from back in the day?


My favorite Lakers player back then was a guy named Brian Winters. I thought the Lakers made a mistake in 1975 when they acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and reserve center Walt Wesley from the Milwaukee Bucks for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters, and rookie "blue chippers" Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman.

Anyhow, I say all that to say ... it brought a smile to my face when I saw that President Obama was hanging with the Lakers today in the White House:





I do think that it is somewhat sad that Chicago Bulls' fans, like Obama, can't pay homage to the Lakers without bringing up Michael Jordan and other long-past days of glory...

LeBron James Dunked on by Xavier's Jordan Crawford (Video)

Nike and LeBron James confiscated one person's video of this dunk. However, another video is now out and we're sharing it with our villagers.



NOTE: It doesn't seem all that embarrassing from LeBron's point of view. Personally, I think LeBron should worry more his inability to speak out against Darfur genocide rather than his inability to block this kid's dunk.

What say u?

Wordless Wednesday: Could He Beat Kobe Bryant or Dwight Howard?

LeBron & Darfur Genocide

LeBron James is only 22-years old. That is a fact that we should keep in mind over the coming weeks as he is in the NBA spotlight. However, when you publically proclaim that you have a desire to become the "first" billionaire athlete, then you come under more scrutiny. Michael Jordan made a conscious effort to be apolitcal in his career. Money ruled with Michael Jordan. He once said, "Republicans buy gym shoes too" when asked why he wouldn't endorse a Democratic candidate.

LeBron James seems to be using the Jordan playbook. His actions appear to say, "Chinese people buy gym shoes too". Using that twisted logic it is unfortunate that there aren't many hardwood floors in Darfur. Maybe if Nike had more market share with the Darfur children and families that are being ripped apart we might have more heroic stance taken by LeBron.

The Christian Science Monitor recently reported that LeBron refused to be a witness against Darfur genocide. The Cleveland Cavaliers' Ira Newble recently wrote an open letter criticizing China's role in the Darfur genocide, urging fellow basketball players to pressure China to change its policy ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics. "China cannot be a legitimate host to the premier international event in the sporting world -- the Summer Olympic Games -- while it remains complicit in the terrible suffering and destruction that continues to this day," the letter stated.

Only two of Newble's teammates refused to sign onto his letter: Damon Jones and LeBron James. James, one of the NBA's most recognizable faces, is a perennial all-star and was named a tri-captain of the 2006 USA World Championship Team.

In a Christian Science Monitor op-ed yesterday, New York University history professor Jonathan Zimmerman explained, "James said he didn't have enough information about the issue to take a stand. Mr. Jones wouldn't comment." But he also noted, "Jones has an endorsement contract with an up-and-coming Chinese shoe and apparel company. James has a $90 million deal with Nike, which has huge business interests in China."

China is Sudan's largest trading partner. Brookings Institution scholar Roberta Cohen wrote, "Were China to use even a small part of its leverage to call Sudan to account, it would go a long way toward saving lives in Sudan."

In July 2005, the Center for American Progress Action Fund teamed up with the Genocide Intervention Fund to call citizens to "be a witness" of the genocide and ask major television networks to report on the massacre. James now appears in Nike advertisements calling others to be a witness ... of his basketball stardom. Perhaps King James should read Luke 12:48 (...to whom much is given, much is expected...).
What do you think villagers? Is it unfair to expect more of atheletes in the spotlight than we expect of ourselves? Do we want our athletic heroes to have a conscience ... or just entertain us with their skills and commercials?

LeBron Rises; Kobe Falls

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. As such, I am a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers. I was a fan back in the days of Gail Goodrich, Mel Counts, Happy Hairston, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West.

I lived in Detroit for eight years ... during the era when the Detroit Pistons were known as the 'Bad Boys'. Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Bill Lambier and John Salley.

My best time as an NBA fan always occurred when Detroit beat the Bulls (Michael Jordan) or the Lakers beat the Celtics (Larry Bird). Lakers vs. Pistons in the NBA championship series was basketball heaven in my household.

I share that background so that you will understand that this week is turning out to be basketball hell in my household.

First, the face of the Lakers ... Kobe Bryant ... doesn't fade away into the off-season to quietly plan, plot and prepare for next year. Rather he sits down with every newspaper reporter or sports radio talk-show host to whine and cry about his current situation. Kobe is paid $17.7 million per year. He has a beautiful wife; children; living large in Los Angeles. He is the 2-time NBA scoring champion. And he is whining and crying to every news outlet that sticks a microphone in front of his face. Kobe makes it rough to be a Lakers' fan.

Second, the Detroit Pistons lose three games in a row to the Cleveland Cavs. As I type this post, the Pistons are now one game away from elimination in the playoffs. More notably, the Pistons have provided a stage for the unleashing of the brilliance of LeBron James. LeBron is a 22-year old basketball player for the Cavs. I just watched LeBron score the final 25 points of the game in a double-overtime win over the Pistons. 25 points in a row. And his team wins by two.

Methinks that this was the greatest single-game performance that I've ever seen in sports.

This was a rough week for the Villager. Both of my favorite teams --> Lakers and Pistons <-- both having a tough time. Of course, being a fan is rough for anyone. But, we always have hope. My hope is that the Pistons can win the next two games and advance to the NBA Finals. We'll know one way or another in the next week.

Final note to Kobe --> Stop whining and find a way to win games. Personally, I think that the supporting cast that Kobe with the Lakers is better than the supporting cast LeBron has in Cleveland. LeBron is finding ways to win games. Kobe is whining on the radio.

Any other sports fans in the village? Anyone else want to share stories about their favorite NBA team? Anyone else amazed by the evolution of LeBron James?

March Madness

I went to the ESPN website to make my picks for the upcoming NCAA men's basketball championship tournament ... otherwise known as March Madness. I don't place bets on these games or this 64-team pool. However, I do enjoy seeing how many points I get in the ESPN contest. My college upgraded it's athletics department to Division 1 a year or so ago. As such, we were not good enough for the final 64. In fact, truth to tell the UCR Highlanders were awful this past year.

However, there is another school in the University of California system that did make the tournament ... UCLA Bruins. UCLA made it to the final game last year before losing to Florida. I figure that they will make it to the Final Four again this year. In order to get there they will need to upset Kansas.

My picks for the Elite 8 are: Florida vs. Wisconsin, Georgetown vs. Texas, Kentucky vs. UCLA and Ohio State vs Texas A&M. Each of these matchups in the Elite 8 on my bracket picks are compelling.

My Final Four selections are: Ohio State, Georgetown, Wisconsin and UCLA.

My sentimental favorite is probably Georgetown ... but, I see Ohio State (a college that I truly dislike based on the fact that my parents met & married during their University of Michigan days) with too much talent for Georgetown. On the other side, I think that UCLA will have the experience to get by Wisconsin.

This brings us to a championship game of UCLA and Ohio State. Which brings me back to my alma mater allegience. UCLA is the sister campus of UC-Riverside. That is enough for me. I'm going with the UCLA Bruins to hoist the championship trophy later this month.

• Final 4 Update: PTS: 890 PCT: 73.8 RANK: 769,456
• Elite 8 Update: PTS: 650 PCT: 61.7 RANK: 1,126,325
• Second Round Update: PTS: 490 PCT: 91.2 RANK: 259,059
• First Round Update: PTS: 270 PCT: 94.5 RANK: 161,646

Care to leave a comment on your Final Four selections? Who is your pick for NCAA championship this year?