Monday, April 28, 2014

Monday: Clippers' owner takes away from fantastic start to NBA playoffs

Happy Monday!
We had another fantastic weekend in sports, especially in the NBA playoffs.
But, unfortunately, all of it was overshadowed by something I’d never thought I’d hear in the NBA.
If you haven’t heard yet, Las Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling was caught making racist comments in a tape released by TMZ. I’ll let someone who actually reported on this give you the details, but it has caused a massive uproar in the basketball world.
Players are furious. Coaches are furious. Fans are furious.
Take a look at social media after the news broke:


And after a couple of days to think about, heck, I’m furious too.
How can an NBA owner say such things? How can he still be involved in the league?
The thing I’m the most upset about though is how Sterling has tainted arguably the best start to the NBA playoffs in the history of the association. Just take a look at how the games were broadcasted yesterday, a day after the news broke.
ABC’s pregame show was spent talking about it, instead of the four phenomenal games that were about to tipoff that day. During a fantastic run by the Golden State Warriors later that afternoon, Lisa Salters was interviewing a representative from the player’s union while Steph Curry was hitting threes in the background.
That’s just it. Everything is now in the background except for Sterling.
And you know what, I bet he’s got a smug little grin on his face somewhere because he has all the attention now. Attention that should be directed toward the players and coaches. 
The players have a right to be angry. The Clippers have a right to wear their warm-ups inside out in protest. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have a right to state their opinion on this, because they are the faces of this league and young kids look up to them. And those kids need to know when to make a stand.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has the right to kick Sterling out of his job or at the very least suspend him for a year or more. He has no business being a part of the association anymore than Brittany Spears has coaching a football team.
I hope Silver makes the decision quickly too. I hope he realizes the importance of getting back to these playoffs. Because they have been awesome and deserve our attention.

Hot Reads:
-Magic Johnson is very interested in taking over as the Clippers' owner, according to Yahoo Sports.
-More reaction to Sterling's comments.
-Back to some local news, the Omaha World-Herald's Sam McKewon wrote a fantastic story about a dual sport athlete committed to Nebraska. 

Thanks for reading and have a great start to the week!

Reach me at: award6344@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @_andrewward

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