Prior to Miami's game against the Charlotte Bobcats tonight, LeBron James was asked to comment on the growing Donald Sterling embarrassment. He did not disappoint. LeBron said the remarks were unacceptable, disrespectful, and wondered aloud whether he would boycott the team's games if he were in the situation Clippers players find themselves in.
Although LeBron discussed the possibility of a player boycott he ultimately leaned toward the commitment to his teammates as a reason to play on, despite the ugliness hanging over the team. Instead, he put the responsibility of dealing with Sterling squarely on the shoulders of the league and commissioner Adam Silver.
"If the reports are true, it's unacceptable. It's unacceptable in our league. It doesn't matter if you're white, black, Hispanic, whatever, all across the races. It's unacceptable and as a commissioner in our league, they have to make a stand, and they have to be very aggressive with it. I don't know what it's going to be, but you just can't have that in our league.
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I hate the fact that something like this has to come out when the playoffs have been unbelievable and the game of basketball continues to grow, but there is no room for Donald Sterling in our league. There is no room for him.
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"I'm not angry. Just disappointed more than anything. There is only 30 owners and 400-plus of us. For a player, I just think…I put my…I can only imagine if a player came out and said something of that stature what would happen to us as players. So, I believe in Adam [Silver], I believe in the NBA and they have to do something and do something very fast and quickly before this really gets out of hand. Like I said, there is no room for Donald Sterling in our league, man. There it is."
That is the NBA's biggest star directly challenging his commissioner to punish another owner and do it fast. By the time Silver addresses the issue at 8:30, he will have surely heard LeBron's comments. It will be very interesting to see how he handles it.
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