NBA Playoffs thread

[Coachmarkos]

Had to be done.

Most of the series at tied 1-1.

http://www.nba.com/

Been really fun to watch. Possibly the best playoffs... maybe ever? So many good teams.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Makes sense. Boffo work, coachmarkos!

Clips hung on for a big win, last night. W's a game opponent, but Clips have a real advantage upfront with Bogut out.

Not sure what to think on that OKC series. Memphis just drives me crazy (they have for 3-4 years). They disrupt everything and remind me a lot of the old Starks/Oakley/Ewing Knicks.

[Coachmarkos]

Naw, the Oakley/Ewing/Anthony Mason Knicks were a direct decendant of the Bad Boy Pistons.

Riley got his fill of them when coaching the Lakers, and saw that you could build a pretty darn good team without as much talent by allowing them to play dirty.

Memphis is just a good, solid team. Anyone who coaches basketball enjoys watching them. When Gasol and ZBo are both healthy...they are a tough load for anyone.

Clips are answering the call so far. Be interesting to see what happens in Game 4. The Mavericks are going to continue to give the Spurs trouble too, I think. Carlisle is probably the only coach in the League who isn't outcoached against the Spurs. And I love seeing the Blazers win against the Rockets and Dwight. No one player has sucked the fun out of bb for me, like Dwight did last season. He's just not a fun player to watch.

[Millionaire Wussy]

Coach, you live in one of the Dakotas, don't you? Do you or your loved ones talk like the show, Fargo?

Nevermind, that's NORTH Dakota and you're South

Pistons were definitely dirty back in the Laimbeer, Mahorn days. Those two could have been arrested every night.

[oneinchpunch]

TMZ:

L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling told his GF he does NOT want her bringing black people to his games ... including Magic Johnson ... and it's ALL on tape.

TMZ Sports has obtained audio of Sterling making the racist declaration during a heated argument on April 9th with V. Stiviano ... after she posted a photo on Instagram posing with Magic.

Sterling rails on Stiviano -- who ironically is black and Mexican -- for putting herself out in public with a black person (she has since taken the pic down). But it doesn't end there. You have to listen to the audio to fully grasp the magnitude of Sterling's racist worldview. Among the comments:

-- "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?" (3:30)

-- "You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that ... and not to bring them to my games." (5:15)

-- "I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people." (7:45)

-- "...Don't put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games." (9:13)

Sterling has a documented history of allegedly racist behavior -- he's been sued twice by the federal government for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to Blacks and Latinos.

He was also sued by former Clippers exec Elgin Baylor for racial discrimination -- though a jury was ultimately not convinced and shot down Baylor's case.

Sterling has been separated from his wife Shelly for years. She remains a key player in running the team and sources tell us she's "mortified" by Sterling's comments.

We have made several calls to Sterling and his people ... so far, no word back.


-------

[oneinchpunch]

Vinny Bonsignore: According to a source close to the situation, Clippers players held a meeting late last night regarding Donald Sterling story. Needless to say, there is tremendous anger among the Clippers players

[oneinchpunch]

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20140426/clippers-cant-play-for-donald-sterling-after-racist-remarks

Commentary: Clippers can’t play for Donald Sterling after racist remarks

It’s always about the other shoe falling for the Clippers, isn’t it?

No matter how good things are seemingly going, disaster is always waiting behind the corner. And it’s usually a self-inflicted calamity at that.

The other shoe fell late Friday night and it came down with such force it’s difficult to imagine them surviving it, no matter what they do the rest of their first-round series against the Golden State Warriors or beyond.

You don’t rebound from the sort of vicious, racist, hate-filled remarks owner Donald Sterling can be heard spewing in a remarkably, bigoted, tasteless nearly 10-minute taped conversation in which he tells his girlfriend, V. Stiviano, that he doesn’t want her posting pictures of minorities or bringing African-Americans to Clippers games.

And it’s all out there for everyone to hear, thanks to TMZ Sports, which broke the story late Friday night.

Needless to say, it immediately reached the Clippers players, who, according to a source, held a team meeting to discuss the situation.

It won’t take long before the contents of that meeting begin filtering out.

As hard as it might be, as difficult as it is to walk away from a goal they’ve spent a lifetime working toward, the Clippers can not take the floor Sunday against the Warriors in Game 4 of their Western Conference playoffs.

They can not play another second for a man who is no longer a closet racist, but a full-fledged card-carrying bigot.

Short of Sterling announcing between now and tip off he is relinquishing ownership of the team, or the NBA demanding he sell it ASAP, the Clippers should not – nor should they be expected to – devote one more ounce of effort for an owner who clearly doesn’t like them or respect them or wish to be associated with them or people with the same skin color.

It would be sending the absolute wrong message to step foot at Oracle Arena knowing what we now know about Sterling.

And it would be sending the absolute wrong message for the NBA or anyone else to expect them to.

The Clippers came to the Bay Area prepared to take command of their series against the Warriors and lift a formerly laughable franchise to new heights.

Only to find out they play for a pig-headed, money grubbing racist.

The other shoe indeed.

The irony, of course, is that Sterling’s girlfriend is African-American and he owns a team in a sport dominated by African-American players.

Can you imagine how conflicted proud men like Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin must feel right now?

Can you imagine what Doc Rivers, the Clippers African-American head coach, must be thinking?

How can he legitimately stand in front of his team today and tell them to go out and beat the Warriors, knowing full well his owner looks down on him with hate and judgment simply because of the color of his skin?

There is no good time to find out the person you work for is a racist, but now of all times?

Right smack in the middle of their long anticipated playoff run in which a win here Sunday would give them a commanding 3-1 lead heading back to Los Angeles, they get waylaid with the realty their owner doesn’t want his girlfriend posing for pictures with them and forebodes her from bringing friends with the same skin complexion as them to their games.

On the verge of perhaps mounting a franchise-best playoff run, they learn their owner wants nothing to do with them other then their ability to make him money.

How are they expected to take the floor in good conscience?

How are they expected to play a game on national TV, with fans of all shades and colors and racial and religious backgrounds watching, knowing their owner stands for the very worst, most despicable among us?

How can they look themselves in the mirror knowing they gave another ounce of sweat for a man filled with such hatred.

How can they look at their family and friends?

Paul has been pulling himself up and down the court with a hamstring so iffy he nearly had to leave Game 3, and on top of having a fever reaching beyond 100.

For what, for whom?

Donald Sterling is not worth Paul’s time, let alone his effort.

Basically Sterling is telling Paul and Jordan and every other black player in the NBA you can play for me, but don’t dare step foot in my home and don’t dare have the audacity to take a picture with me or anyone around me.

Here’s hoping the Clippers stick it to their owner and anyone else who allows him to be associated with the NBA.

It’s time to take a stand against a known bigot.

And that means boycotting the rest of the playoffs until Sterling walks away for good or the NBA removes him once and for all.

[sandiego17]

Don't agree with the above. The more the clippers win, the longer the story lasts and more pressure on the NBA to demand that POS is booted from the league. Can he actually show up for a game in the short run?

[oneinchpunch]

Don't agree with the above. The more the clippers win, the longer the story lasts and more pressure on the NBA to demand that POS is booted from the league. Can he actually show up for a game in the short run?

I dont agree with it either.

And nobody is going to want to play for the Clippers if he stays on.

[oneinchpunch]

Donald Sterling: I'm not a racist!

Staples Center should be full of Warriors fans. Or typical Clippers fans

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Staples Center should be full of Warriors fans. Or typical Clippers fans

You have issues.

[oneinchpunch]

LA Times:

MARK J. TERRILL / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Clippers owner Donald Sterling, center, sits with V. Stiviano, right, at Staples Center during a game against the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 25, 2013. The NBA is investigating a report of an audio recording in which a man purported to be Sterling makes racist remarks while speaking to Stiviano.
BY BEN BOLCH
April 26, 2014, 11:32 p.m.
L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who for 30 years has presided over the city's second NBA franchise, became the object of national outrage and the target of an NBA investigation Saturday after allegedly making derogatory remarks about blacks.

In an audio recording, released by celebrity gossip site TMZ, a person identified as Sterling argues with his girlfriend, criticizing her for posting a picture of herself on Instagram posing with Lakers legend Magic Johnson.

FOR THE RECORD:
This article says Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a statement "condemning the billionaire." In fact, the statement condemned the alleged remarks of the billionaire.
"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people," Sterling allegedly says, later adding, "I'm just saying, in your … Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself with, walking with black people.

"Don't put him on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games."

The release of the recording came after the Clippers' best regular season and on the eve of Game 4 of the first-round playoff series with the Golden State Warriors. It touched off a furor, with Clippers fans as well as Miami Heat star LeBron James and other top players criticizing Sterling.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a statement condemning the billionaire, who turned 80 on Saturday.

Clippers Coach Doc Rivers was visibly angry at the recording's content and the distraction it caused.

"I think the biggest statement we can make as men — not as black men, as men — is to stick together and show how strong we are as a group, not splinter, not walk," Rivers said. "It's easy to protest. The protest will be in our play."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters in Memphis, Tenn., the remarks were "truly offensive and disturbing" and said the league intended to conduct an investigation into the recording's authenticity that would "move extraordinarily quickly," possibly concluding in the next few days. Silver said Sterling would not attend Sunday's game at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Silver would not comment what action the league would take if an investigation establishes Sterling made the comment. But it could include a hefty fine or suspension. A demand that he sell the team is unlikely.

TMZ did not say how it obtained the recording. The Times has not verified the recording for its authenticity.

The woman on the recording, who identifies herself as Mexican and black, was said to be V. Stiviano, who is in her 20s and who has often been seen at Sterling's side. In a lawsuit filed last month, Sterling's wife, Rochelle, contends her husband showered Stiviano in money and expensive cars, and that he had been having an affair with her for four years.

Clippers President Andy Roeser released a statement that questioned the authenticity of the recording and the motives of Stiviano, who he noted is the defendant in Rochelle Sterling's $1.8-million embezzlement case.

Roeser claimed that after the lawsuit was filed, Stiviano told Donald Sterling that she would "get even." The team executive also said what was stated on the recording "is not consistent with, nor does it reflect [Sterling's] views, beliefs or feelings."

Rivers said he would speak for his Clippers players regarding the controversy. During a 45-minute team meeting Saturday morning, he said, his players voiced their displeasure over the remarks.

"No one was happy about it," Rivers said at the practice court at the University of San Francisco, before alluding to the unity among his white and black players. "J.J. Redick was just as [mad] as Chris Paul and that's the way it should be."

Players considered wearing black socks or armbands in protest during Sunday's game but worried about being viewed as radical. Center DeAndre Jordan posted a black rectangle on his Instagram account and tweeted a link to his more than 426,000 followers.

Rivers said the idea of boycotting a game was raised but quickly dismissed.

"Honestly, I'm completely against that and they were too," Rivers said of his players. "Why should we let someone's comments stop what we're trying to do?"

Sterling has not addressed his team.

Paul, the Clippers point guard and president of the NBA players' union, issued a statement calling the remarks "a very serious issue which we will address aggressively." Paul said he had asked Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA player, to help determine the union's next steps in its response.

Other NBA stars weren't as restrained. Miami's James told reporters in Charlotte, N.C., that "there's no room for Donald Sterling in the NBA." Hall of Famer Charles Barkley called for Silver to suspend Sterling if the recording can be authenticated.

Johnson tweeted he and his wife would never go to a Clippers game again as long as Sterling owned the team.

"I feel sorry for my friends Coach Doc Rivers and Chris Paul that they have to work for a man that feels that way about African Americans," Johnson tweeted. "LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling's comments about African Americans are a black eye for the NBA."

Former Clippers point guard Baron Davis, who Sterling famously heckled from his courtside seat for his poor play during Davis' two-plus seasons with the team, alluded to Sterling's history of racial issues by tweeting, "That's the way it is … He is honest about what he believes in. Been going on for a long time, Hats off 2

the Team … 4 playin above it all."

In 2009, Sterling agreed to pay $2.73 million to settle allegations by the government that he refused to rent apartments to Hispanics, blacks and families with children in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles.

Former Clippers General Manager Elgin Baylor filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit against Sterling that same year contending the owner embraced a "vision of a Southern plantation-type structure" for his organization, though his claim was eventually rejected by a jury.

Former Clippers guard Ron Harper said in a phone interview Sterling "took care of me when I played there. But if I had known then what I know now, there's no way I would have ever played for him. I know where he stands and it's not for African-American people. I've got no love for him at all."

Mayor Garcetti denounced the owner, saying Sterling's alleged remarks were "offensive and despicable and have no place in Los Angeles. I urge the NBA to act swiftly. L.A. fans demand and deserve better."

The Los Angeles chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People had been scheduled to give Sterling the group's lifetime achievement award at a May 15 banquet.

In the lawsuit filed in L.A. County Superior Court on March 7, Sterling's wife of more than 50 years paints Stiviano as an opportunist who seduces older wealthy men and persuades them to shower her with gifts. According to the suit, Sterling and Stiviano began an affair after meeting at the 2010 Super Bowl game and were still in a relationship as of the filing date.

Rochelle Sterling alleges her husband used community property to buy Stiviano a 2012 Ferrari, two Bentleys and a 2013 Range Rover, worth a total of more than $500,0000.

Sterling also gave Stiviano $1.8 million to buy a duplex on West 4th Street near the Beverly Center last December, according to the suit, which claims Sterling additionally provided her with $240,000 for upkeep and living expenses.

Arguing the gifts were all made without Rochelle Sterling's knowledge or consent, the complaint seeks their return along with compensatory damages.

Roeser, the Clippers' executive, said in his statement that Sterling "feels terrible that such sentiments are being attributed to him and apologizes to anyone who might have been hurt by them.

"He is also upset and apologizes for sentiments attributed to him about Earvin Johnson. He has long considered Magic a friend.."

------

How long can Sterling keep up his charade?

Clippers fans will try their best to say this has no connection to them being fans. How long will the players put up with it before they're considered a joke?