Mad at Adam Silver. Mad at the other NBA owners. Mad at the world.
So, Sterling is doing what mad people do – lash out.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s team of lawyers has hired four private investigation firms to dig up dirt on the NBA’s former and current commissioners and its 29 other owners, said a person familiar with Sterling’s legal strategy.
Investigators were given a six-figure budget over the next 30 days to examine the league’s finances, allegations of previous discriminatory conduct and compensation to past Commissioner David Stern and current Commissioner Adam Silver, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday night on condition of anonymity. The person wasn’t authorized to talk publicly.
The person said the investigators also are looking into whether other owners made any off-color jokes, or racist or sexist remarks.
The NBA shouldn’t fear losing Sterling’s ridiculous lawsuit. That thing makes a mockery of laws.
But maybe the league should fear this:
Mark Cuban has railed about the slippery slope of an owner losing his team due to private comments, and this is why. No other owner wants to lose his team for something similar. The dirt needn’t reveal racism – just something substantially outrageous for any reason.
Think all 29 other owners have never done something that the public would abhor? I’d guess those odds are low.
The bigger question is whether Sterling’s investigators can uncover it.
Sterling can’t get his lifetime ban overturned. He can’t get his fine rescinded. He can’t keep the Clippers.
But he can make life miserable for some people in the NBA. We’ll see soon enough whether he does.
