This Sunday high-noon in Oakland, The Los Angeles Clippers’ first public protest against the racist remarks of their owner Donald Sterling was to wear their red warm-up shirts inside-out, obscuring their names an team affiliation in shame while dropping their warm-up jackets to the Oracle hardwood. Sterling has gotten the league and the Clippers into hot water at the worst possible time as TMZ streamed a recorded conversation of him and V. Stiviano (whom has had a relationship with Sterling since 2010’s Super Bowl XLIV), where he expresses regret that she needs to ‘broadcast’ her associations with ‘black people,’ seemingly specifically relating to a selfie Stiviano took with Magic Johnson.
As the NBA and rookie Commissioner Adam Silver ‘investigated’ the matter, finally stating that they would take action by the playoff series’ Game 5 at the Staples Center, as new and old allegations about the ‘plantation owner’ behavior of Sterling steadily accumulated. After the protest, an awkwardly physical contest with the Golden State Warriors played out. Sterling was not present; however, Rochelle Sterling, the “Racist” Donald’s wife of 50 years (and who has a suit pending against Stiviano), was in attendance, as well as Silver and Sacramento Mayor and former NBA star Kevin Johnson, who is taking a spokesman role for the player’s union at the request of NBA Union head representative and Clippers star Chris Paul. The Warriors were determined and desperate to even the series at 2 games apiece, and their star Stephen Curry strived to put the game away with an early burst of 3-pointers and 21 first half points. The Clippers, under their Coach of the Year candidate Doc Rivers, refused to be overwhelmed by the distractions, but ultimately succumbed. The spotlight will now shift to Staples on Tuesday.
A statement only just emerged from the nation’s capital (President Barack Obama Sunday afternoon called Sterling’s comments “incredibly offensive”), but D.C.’s Washington Wizards did make an earlier statement on the court, transcending the suspension of their center Nené with great performances again from the inventive duo of Wall and Beal, and with Nené’s replacement Marcin Gortat taking his role and team image to Emperor Ming levels, the Wizards have now taken the storied Chicago Bulls to the brink of elimination.
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