Report: NBA didn’t look into Donald Sterling’s previous actions
By Jack Maloney
Even though he won’t give it up the fight for as long as he lives, Donald Sterling is finally out as the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. After his racist comments went public, many were surprised to learn about the owners’ shady past filled with criminal and discriminatory behavior.
More from Los Angeles Clippers
- Did Russell Westbrook play role in James Harden’s Clippers interest?
- 3 potential James Harden suitors not named the Clippers
- The new NBA flopping rules explained
- 5 players Sixers could acquire in Harden deal to stay competitive
- NBA rumors: One Damian Lillard suitor could drop out in favor of another star
Part of the reason for the surprise was because despite all the bad things Sterling has done, the NBA hasn’t really looked into his non-NBA business, so NBA fans not living in Los Angeles or not in tune with who Sterling really was had no idea about what went on.
An Outside the Lines report found that the NBA didn’t look into all of Sterling’s shady behavior, and when they did it was rather weakly.
"Over the past several weeks, ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” conducted dozens of interviews and reviewed thousands of pages of documents involving Donald Sterling and his wife, Shelly. Through all of the alleged Sterling transgressions, racist statements and actions, boorish sexual behavior and discriminatory practices that cropped up over the past three decades during his tenure as the Clippers’ owner, league officials appear to have never asked any questions of those involved. And though some of the cases were wrapped in confidentiality deals, a trove of details could have been found had league officials attempted to glean them, in addition to being able to land interviews with key participants, “Outside the Lines” has learned. Sterling also has been caught in conflicting testimony under oath, according to various depositions read and viewed by “Outside the Lines.”"
Even though we already had a good idea that the NBA didn’t do much about anything Sterling has done in the past, it’s still disappointing to hear that confirmed.