NBA and Donald Sterling Settle

The NBA and representatives for Donald Sterling have reached a settlement for undisclosed terms to dismiss Sterling’s active appeal in his case against the NBA. After Donald was banned by the NBA in 2014 (and fined $2.5 million), the Clippers were subsequently sold (under the leadership of Shelley Sterling) to the current owner of Steve Ballmer. Donald Sterling’s suit was a claim of conspiracy from an array of individuals that included Adam Silver, the NBA, his wife Shelley, and doctors that had deemed Donald unfit to lead the ownership trust of the Clippers. After the suit had been dismissed in March, Donald’s attorneys attempted to appeal the ruling...only to miss last month’s deadline to file an opening brief.

This development marks the end (hopefully) of Donald Sterling’s involvement with the Clippers’ organization, and basketball for that matter. His reputation for racism had clouded the Clippers’ reputation for many years before his downfall in 2014. With leaders like Doc Rivers and Chris Paul at the helm, one can hope that the Clippers can now become a leader in the Los Angeles (and general) community on issues including race. Indeed, after the recent presidential elections, Doc Rivers did speak out on his thoughts about the election of Donald Trump when he encouraged people to give the president-elect a chance.