It was out of line. Then again, his mentality in life always has been. He’s like one of those unknown rock bands that breaks the top charts, out of the blue, and everyone flips out, but not everybody realizes that the band was killing it long before its burst of nationwide buzz. In this case, L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling was killing peace and equality in his own peace of mind.

So when his alleged racial slurs against African-Americans leaked via a TMZ report after a heated argument with his girlfriend, he soon became to ‘peace of mind’ what his power forward Blake Griffin’s palm is to vulnerable rims. And yes, even one of his only players not dark in complexion is part African-American. That said, Sterling’s ten-minute rant hurt more than just his already-tarnished reputation: try 78 percent of the NBA’s players; try anyone associated with the Clippers’ organization; try anyone that plans to attend their games in the future.
One may be wondering what, specifically, Sterling was rambling about, and this is where it should be said—try Magic Johnson.

Sterling’s girlfriend, who happens to be Black and Mexican, had posted a picture of her posing with Johnson on Instagram, and Sterling soon was outraged. He demanded she not broadcast that she’s associating with Blacks or going to games with them—and it was all caught on tape. The media took the recording by the reigns, and the world has soon come to think of the headline story when the Clippers are ever mentioned, not the fact that they’re currently fighting for their season in the playoffs.

Now where do the Clippers go from here amidst an intense postseason which, as of this past weekend, was in the heat of a series with the Golden State Warriors?

“Our goal is to win the NBA title,” Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said, who is also African-American, “And we’re not going to let anything stand in the way of that. It’s adversity that we didn’t want, but we have it, we have to deal with it internally, but we’re not going to share it with anybody else.”

It’s not fair to the Clippers team that they have to go through this distraction so ‘out of line,’ so outside of the lines of the actual game, yet they must still be under heavy showers of media and, even worse, controversial scrutiny against the ownership of their very team.
“I personally think the situation is most unfair to Clippers players and coaches, who have to deal with this distraction in the middle of their own highly competitive playoff series,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated this past weekend.
It was most expected that suggestions would soon come the commissioner’s way.

“[Silver] has got to come down hard,” Magic Johnson said on ESPN’s NBA Countdown show. “[Sterling] shouldn’t own a team anymore.”
This, certainly, is the first big test for Silver, who just took over as NBA commissioner in February. What he must consider, and surely will, is that he’s devising a knockout punch of repercussion, not a slap on the wrist. Sterling’s had enough of those.

See, this is where Sterling resembles that unknown rock band. He’s had his history of under-the-radar news. He’s been sued twice by the federal government for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to Blacks and Latinos, sued by former Clippers exec Elgin Baylor for racial discrimination, and has angrily cussed out former Clipper Baron Davis during games, who said a few days ago that he even used to have anxiety playing before Sterling at Clippers games.

What the world talks of when they hear of Donald Sterling is the number-one hit single that gets overplayed on the radio. It has, too. ESPN Radio has been on the subject for several straight days. So has SportsCenter. The fact that this is the growing giant of the problems the league has dealt with regarding this man seems that maybe Silver needs to finally put the lasting hammer down: 1) Agree with Magic’s idea of permanent restriction; 2) Make it quick—the world needs to refocus on the most important time of the NBA season.