The main takeaway I can’t escape from the five-part podcast about Donald Sterling released by 30 for 30 Podcasts and The Undefeated this week is that the NBA got really, really lucky with Donald Sterling.
Consider how the NBA actually got Sterling out of the league after his racist remarks came out on TMZ via a tape from his fame-seeking, vendetta-settling mistress: Sterling’s estranged wife sneakily had him diagnosed with dementia and taken off their family trust, giving her full authority to sell the L.A. Clippers out from under him. It’s easy to imagine that not working according to plan!
In the podcast series, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports that Sterling was underrepresented legally: his longtime personal lawyer was in his 80s and losing steam, and he had hired a new lawyer during one of the dementia exams! Had Sterling had competent, stable legal representation all along this process, from the start, this gambit to quickly take Sterling off the trust and sell the…
