NBA players union wants immediate vote on Donald Sterling selling Clippers

Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks during a press conference at Los Angeles city hall regarding NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's banning of Donald Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers or the NBA  April 29, 2014.(Andy Holzman/Los Angeles Daily News)

Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks during a press conference at Los Angeles city hall regarding NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s banning of Donald Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers or the NBA April 29, 2014.(Andy Holzman/Los Angeles Daily News)

Even though he was “satisfied” with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issuing a life-time ban to Clippers owner Donald Sterling for making racially insensitive comments, players union vice president Roger Mason Jr. wants an immediate vote on league owners to strip away Sterling’s ownership.

“I would imagine it would be tough for a kid getting drafted or a free agent player making a decision to play for this franchise without a change of ownership in place,” Mason Jr. told this newspaper. “I would hope it gets done sooner or later.”

According to a league source familiar with the details, the NBA is currently uncertain when the next Board of Governors meeting will take place for a vote. But Silver said in a press conference in New York on Tuesday that the league would need 75 percent of its 30 owners to vote in favor of Sterling’s ouster. The majority of NBA owners, including Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, released statements expressing support for Silver’s punishment that also included a $2.5 million fine.

“We are satisfied he made that decision,” Mason Jr. said. “Ultimately our full satisfaction is not going to come until there’s a full change in ownership. This is the first step.”

Mason Jr. said the players union would have instituted a league-wide boycott, including Game 5 of the Clippers-Golden State first-round series Tuesday night at Staples Center, had Silver’s punishment was less severe.

Mason Jr. also emphasized that the players union does not want Sterling’s family to be involved with the organization. Eric Miller, the Clippers’ director of basketball operation, is Sterling’s son-in-law. There have also been suggestions made that Sterling’s wife, Rochelle, could also file divorce papers that would require her husband to pay half of his community assets per California law.

“Our understanding is the change in ownership is a full change in ownership,” Mason Jr. said.

And what if that doesn’t happen?

“I don’t want to predict the future,” Mason Jr. said. “But that’s something that’s not tolerable for our players.”


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