Warriors players prepared to walk off court in protest vs. Clippers

Apr 29, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson during a press conference prior to the game between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers in game five of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

On Tuesday afternoon, NBA commissioner Adam Silver handed Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling a lifetime ban from the league and a $2.5 million fine for his racist comments that leaked over the weekend. If he had not come down with adequate punishment, the Golden State Warriors team who traveled to Los Angeles on Tuesday for Game 5 had prepared a protest.

And it would have been absolutely incredible.

According to the Mercury News, the Warriors were prepared to go through the normal pre-game activities but put their protest into full swing as soon as the ball went into the air for tip-off.

The plan was for the Warriors players to walk off of the court as soon as the ball went in the air for the opening tip.

“It would have been our only chance to make a statement in front of the biggest audience that we weren’t going to accept anything but the maximum punishment,” Warriors star Stephen Curry told the paper. “We would deal with the consequences later but we were not going to play.”

Curry, David Lee and Andre Iguodala were the masterminds behind the idea, and the hope was that the Clippers players would have joined them in walking off of the court.

Now that is how you protest and it really would have been something special to see.

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