Sterling, the NBA Constitution and By-Laws, and the ban

[IlarMeilyr]

It has been claimed that the banning of uber-racist schmuck "owner" of the Clippers, Sterling, by the NBA, is done under the authority of the NBA Constitution and By-Laws. And that might be. But I anticipate the prospect of a bit of a fight here.

The offenses that can lead to a termination are covered under Article 13. If you read through the provisions and paragraphs of Article 13, the only one that MIGHT be implicated is (MAYBE) the first one, "(a)." And I'm not sure what the racist shithead said in a phone conversation could even laughably be called a "Willfully violate any of the provisions of the Constitution and By-Laws, resolutions, or agreements of the
Association."

Some talking (sports') heads have advised the public that Sterling supposedly "cannot" legally fight that 3/4's vote due to Article 14. HOWEVER, in pertinent part what that Article says is: "(j) The decisions of the Association made in accordance with the foregoing procedure shall be final, binding, and conclusive, and each Member and Owner waives any and all recourse to any court of law to review any such decision."

That is all well and good if the decision of the NBA Commissioner and Board of Governors was made "in accordance with" the Article 13.

But if Sterling and his team of lawyers want to challenge the NBA's determination, they can easily argue that the determination was NOT made in accordance with Article 13. That is, they can say as much IF there is no By-Law or other regulation of the NBA that prohibits an asshole racist owner from speaking privately about his racist views.

At the link provided below (after the quoted excerpt of Articles 13, 14 and 15 of the NBA Constitution) you can look (I say in vain) for any By-Law that says that an asshole racist owner cannot speak privately of his asshole racist views.

Therefore, as a strictly academic exercise, I say it IS possible for Sterling to litigate all of this. The THREAT of protracted litigation might be enough to get the players in this disgusting little drama to find some alternative remedy that allows Sterling to negotiate his own sale of the team -- and sale price.

26
ARTICLE 13
TERMINATION OF OWNERSHIP OR MEMBERSHIP
The Membership of a Member or the interest of any
Owner
may be terminated by a vote of three fourths (3/4)
of the Board of
Governors if the Member or Owner shall do or suffer
any of the
following:
(a) Willfully violate any of the provisions of th
e
Constitution and By-Laws, resolutions, or agreement
s of the
Association.
(b) Transfer or attempt to transfer a Membership
or an
interest in a Member without complying with the pro
visions of Article
5.
(c) Fail to pay any dues or other indebtedness ow
ing to
the Association within thirty (30) days after Writt
en Notice from the
Commissioner of default in such payment.
(d) Fail or refuse to fulfill its contractual obl
igations to
the Association, its Members, Players, or any other
third party in such a
way as to affect the Association or its Members adv
ersely.
(e) Wager or countenance wagering by its officers
or
employees on any game in which a Team operated by a
Member of the
Association participates.
(f) Willfully permit open betting, pool selling,
or any
other form of gambling upon any premises owned, lea
sed, or otherwise
controlled by the Member or an Owner, except, subje
ct to Article 8(a),
for gambling activities that are lawful in the appl
icable jurisdiction and
do not involve in any way, directly or indirectly,
gambling with respect
to any aspect of the Association’s games, events, p
roperty, players, or
other personnel.
27
(g) Offer, agree, conspire, or attempt to lose or
control
the score of any game participated in by a Team ope
rated by a Member
of the Association, or fail to suspend immediately
any officer or any
Player or other employee of the Member who shall be
found guilty, in a
court of law or in any hearing sanctioned by this C
onstitution and By-
Laws, of offering, agreeing, conspiring, or attempt
ing to lose or control
the score of any such game or of being interested i
n any pool or wager
on any game in which a Team operated by a Member of
the
Association participates.
(h) Disband its Team during the Season, dissolve
its
business, or cease its operation.
(i) Willfully fail to present its Team at the tim
e and
place it is scheduled to play in an Exhibition, Reg
ular Season, or
Playoff Game.
(j) Willfully misrepresent any material fact cont
ained in
its application for Membership in the Association.
ARTICLE 14
PROCEDURE FOR TERMINATION
The Membership of a Member or the interest of any
Owner
shall be terminated on the occurrence of any of the
events described in
Article 13 by the following procedure:
(a) Any Member of the Association or the Commissi
oner
may charge that a Member or Owner has violated one
(1) or more of
the provisions of Article 13. Said charge shall be
made in Writing and
shall be filed with the Commissioner, who shall, no
later than three (3)
business days after the charges are filed, cause a
copy thereof to be
served by a Writing upon the Member or Owner agains
t whom such
charges have been made.
28
(b) The Member or Owner so charged shall, within
five
(5) days after receipt of the charges, file with th
e Commissioner its
written answer thereto. The Commissioner shall the
reupon transmit
said charges and answer to each of the Governors of
the Association
and shall call a special meeting of the Governors t
o hear the charges, to
be held on a date not more than ten (10) days after
the filing of a
Member’s or Owner’s answer, due notice to be given.
(c) Willful failure by a Member or Owner so charg
ed to
answer the charges during such five (5) day period
or to appear at the
hearing shall be deemed an admission by said Member
or Owner of the
total validity of the charges as presented.
(d) At such hearing, the Chairman of the Board of
Governors shall be the presiding officer, except th
at if the Chairman of
the Board of Governors represents either the compla
ining Member or
the Member charged, then the Commissioner shall des
ignate an
alternate Chairman for purposes of the hearing.
(e) At the hearing, the Member or Owner so charge
d
shall have the right to be represented by counsel.
Strict rules of
evidence shall not apply, and all relevant and mate
rial evidence
submitted prior to and at the hearing may be receiv
ed and considered.
(f) After duly considering all the evidence, the
Board of
Governors shall vote upon the proposition that the
charges have been
sustained in whole or in part. The affirmative vot
e of three-fourths
(3/4) of all the Governors shall be required to sus
tain the charges.
(g) If, by a three-fourths (3/4) vote, the Board
of
Governors votes to sustain the charges, the Members
hip of the guilty
Member or the Member in which the guilty Owner has
an interest shall
automatically be terminated, unless, following a mo
tion duly made and
seconded, two-thirds (2/3) of all the Governors vot
e instead to
terminate the ownership interest of the guilty Owne
r or to invoke the
provisions of Article 15.
29
(h) Notwithstanding Article 14(g) above, in the c
ase of a
violation of Article 13 by an Owner who has an inte
rest of ten percent
(10%) or less in, and does not have effective contr
ol over, a Member,
the Membership of such Member may not be terminated
solely because
of such Owner’s violation. In such case, if the ch
arges are sustained
against such Owner by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of
the Board of
Governors, the ownership interest of that Owner sha
ll be automatically
terminated unless, following a motion duly made and
seconded, two-
thirds (2/3) of all the Governors vote to invoke th
e provisions of Article
15.
(i) If any Membership or interest of an Owner sha
ll be
terminated pursuant to this Article 14, the provisi
ons of Article 14A
shall apply.
(j) The decisions of the Association made in acco
rdance
with the foregoing procedure shall be final, bindin
g, and conclusive,
and each Member and Owner waives any and all recour
se to any court
of law to review any such decision.
ARTICLE 14A
CONSEQUENCES OF TERMINATION
(a) When the Membership of a Member is terminated
,
such Member and its assets, properties and operatio
ns shall be placed
under the management and control of the Commissione
r, who shall
have the following powers: to cause the Member’s T
eam to continue to
play its Exhibition, Regular Season, and Playoff Ga
mes; to collect all
revenues from every source payable to the Member an
d apply such
revenues, to the extent available, to the payment o
f such Member’s
debts and obligations; and, as directed by a majori
ty of the Board of
Governors (the Member whose Membership was terminat
ed not being
considered a Member of the Board of Governors for t
he purposes of
this Article), either to transfer such Member’s Mem
bership (including
its Player Contracts and other assets) in accordanc
e with and subject to
30
Article 5 or to liquidate the Player Contracts and
other assets of the
Member in an orderly manner in the best interests o
f the Member and
its creditors, and the Association, in each case at
such prices and on
such terms as the Commissioner shall deem reasonabl
e and appropriate.
(b) When the interest of any Owner is terminated,
that
interest shall, unless the Commissioner has approve
d an alternative
arrangement, be placed under the management and con
trol of the
Commissioner, who shall have the power to exercise
all of the rights
otherwise exercisable by the Owner of that interest
, including, but not
limited to, any management or voting rights and the
right to transfer all
or any portion of that interest in accordance with
and subject to Article
5 at such prices and on such terms as the Commissio
ner shall deem
reasonable and appropriate.
(c) All proceeds from any transfer of a Member’s
Membership or the liquidation of its Player Contrac
ts and other assets,
or of an Owner’s interest in a Member, shall be app
lied first to
discharge the liabilities and obligations to all cr
editors of the Member
(or Owner), including the Association and its Membe
rs but excluding
any Owner of the Member, second to discharge the li
abilities and
obligations to any Owner of the Member, and any bal
ance shall be
remitted to the Member (or Owner). The existence o
r implementation
of this Article 14A shall not impose upon the Assoc
iation or any of its
Members any requirement to provide funds to any Mem
ber (or Owner)
or any liability for any debts or obligations of an
y Member (or Owner).
ARTICLE 15
ALTERNATIVES TO TERMINATION
If a charge that a Member or Owner has committed
any of
the offenses described in Article 13 is sustained,
two-thirds (2/3) of all
the Governors may waive the remedy of termination,
and instead direct
the Member or Owner to pay a stated fine in a stipu
lated manner and by
a stipulated date, which fine may be required to be
paid, in whole or in
31
part, to any other Member or Members as compensatio
n to such
Member or Members for damages sustained by it or th
em by reason of
such act or acts of omission or commission by such
offending Member
or Owner. Such fine shall be payable within five (
5) days after its
imposition. Moreover, the Board of Governors may,
in its discretion,
either in addition to, or in lieu of, such fine, di
rect the forfeiture of the
offending Member’s Draft rights.

-- http://mediacentral.nba.com/media/mediacentral/NBA-Constitution-and-By-Laws.pdf

It formats funky. I am way too lazy to reformat the excerpt.

 

[Pennywise]

He's finished because the Race Pimps scream the loudest.

Had he made disparaging comments about Whites, Christians, American Males, he would still be in the catbird's seat.

Remember now, protected classes that if you insult will be the end of your career-

Fags, Muslims, Negroes, Retards, Cripples, Women, Wetbacks, Abortionists, Perverts (*see *Fags), All other Third-world categories.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

I am no happier about race-pimps like Al notso Sharpton than I am about racist shit-for-brain old motherfuckers like Sterling.

But the point of my OP was to contest the claim that Sterling is "unable," legally, to fight back. I don't think that's true. It MIGHT be what the NBA Constitution hoped to achieve, but I don't think it can accomplish that little mission IF the Commissioner's ban ruling is challenged. I am suggesting that Article 14(j) is not NEARLY as iron-clad as it might seem at first glance:

(j) The decisions of the Association made in accordance with the foregoing procedure shall be final, binding, and conclusive, and each Member and Owner waives any and all recourse to any court of law to review any such decision.

Id. Emphasis added.

I also have not the first clue about whether Sterling is even inclined to fight it in Court.

All I'm suggesting is that he can by-pass the provision of Article 14(j), and thus take his "case" to a Court of Law, if he can make out the claim that the NBA decision was not made "in accordance with" its own Constitution, By-Laws and formal regulations. And if there is a provision in the Articles of the NBA Constitution, in its by-laws or any of its regulations that even claim to exercise control over the expression of racist thoughts by an owner in a PRIVATE telephone conversation, I have yet to find it.

If it exists, then Sterling is shit out of luck. I am more or less fine with that.

But if it doesn't exist, then there's really nothing that could stop him from taking this matter TO Court.

 

[DGS49]

Certainly he has the ability to fight back, and he would have a better than even chance of overturning the expulsion, but it would be an empty victory. I doubt he could even put a viable team on the court next year.

I note you are on the popular hypocritical bandwagon, referring to this old gentleman as an "uber-racist schmuck." Please mention, if you would, anything he ever did that harmed any black person.

The recently-taped conversation says only that he didn't want his former paramour - a mixed race, alien-looking **** - to be bringing exclusively black people to his basketball games (with tickets furnished by the "racist"), and causing HIM (the racist) to have to respond to comments on her associates.

Do you have any additional proof of his "racism"? If not, then you have a lot to learn about racism and its effects.

This is much ado about NOTHING.

 

[hangover]

SCOTUS says money is free speech. Sterling has $1.9 billion. That kind of speech will tie up the NBA ruling in the courts for decades.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

SCOTUS says money is free speech. Sterling has $1.9 billion. That kind of speech will tie up the NBA ruling in the courts for decades.

^ that is, of course, not exactly what the SCOTUS said.

But far be it from me to piss on yet another dishonest mindless liberal talking pointless.

But look at the bright side. At least your ignorant and disingenuous post was off topic.

 

[hangover]

SCOTUS says money is free speech. Sterling has $1.9 billion. That kind of speech will tie up the NBA ruling in the courts for decades.

^ that is, of course, not exactly what the SCOTUS said.

But far be it from me to piss on yet another dishonest mindless liberal talking pointless.

But look at the bright side. At least your ignorant and disingenuous post was off topic.

FYI, the topic was Sterling. So was my post. Moron.

 

[HUGGY]

All I have to say about Sterling is this:

That son of a bitch had better not say anything uncomfortable about the Irish.

Cabbich !!

 

[IlarMeilyr]

SCOTUS says money is free speech. Sterling has $1.9 billion. That kind of speech will tie up the NBA ruling in the courts for decades.

^ that is, of course, not exactly what the SCOTUS said.

But far be it from me to piss on yet another dishonest mindless liberal talking pointless.

But look at the bright side. At least your ignorant and disingenuous post was off topic.

FYI, the topic was Sterling. So was my post. Moron.

Hey ya Moron:

Thanks for signing your post, but we already know who you are and that you ARE indeed a moron.

And of course, you're wrong. You being a moron and all, that's just expected.

The NAME of Sterling WAS in the thread headline, but the TOPIC of the thread is really all about the NBA "constitution" and its by-laws and the questionable proposition that because of the NBA constitution and by laws the racist shit-head is unable to challenge the determination of the NBA.

In any event, your read on what the SCOTUS said was also myopic. Rather moronic of you. No surprise.

And your post wasn't really ABOUT Sterling, either, you fucking imbecile. It was"about" your misinterpretation of the SCOTUS ruling.

You really ARE a complete fucking moron, you jack-off motherfucker.

 

[hangover]

^ that is, of course, not exactly what the SCOTUS said.

But far be it from me to piss on yet another dishonest mindless liberal talking pointless.

But look at the bright side. At least your ignorant and disingenuous post was off topic.

FYI, the topic was Sterling. So was my post. Moron.

Hey ya Moron:

Thanks for signing your post, but we already know who you are and that you ARE indeed a moron.

And of course, you're wrong. You being a moron and all, that's just expected.

The NAME of Sterling WAS in the thread headline, but the TOPIC of the thread is really all about the NBA "constitution" and its by-laws and the questionable proposition that because of the NBA constitution and by laws the racist shit-head is unable to challenge the determination of the NBA.

In any event, your read on what the SCOTUS said was also myopic. Rather moronic of you. No surprise.

And your post wasn't really ABOUT Sterling, either, you fucking imbecile. It was"about" your misinterpretation of the SCOTUS ruling.

You really ARE a complete fucking moron, you jack-off motherfucker.

I know you are, but what am I? NA NA NA NA NA! You are a moron! NA NA NA NA NA! You are a jack off! NA NA NA NA NA! You are a motherfucker! NA NA NA NA NA!
There, I came down to your level so you could understand.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

FYI, the topic was Sterling. So was my post. Moron.

Hey ya Moron:

Thanks for signing your post, but we already know who you are and that you ARE indeed a moron.

And of course, you're wrong. You being a moron and all, that's just expected.

The NAME of Sterling WAS in the thread headline, but the TOPIC of the thread is really all about the NBA "constitution" and its by-laws and the questionable proposition that because of the NBA constitution and by laws the racist shit-head is unable to challenge the determination of the NBA.

In any event, your read on what the SCOTUS said was also myopic. Rather moronic of you. No surprise.

And your post wasn't really ABOUT Sterling, either, you fucking imbecile. It was"about" your misinterpretation of the SCOTUS ruling.

You really ARE a complete fucking moron, you jack-off motherfucker.

I know you are, but what am I? NA NA NA NA NA! You are a moron! NA NA NA NA NA! You are a jack off! NA NA NA NA NA! You are a motherfucker! NA NA NA NA NA!
There, I came down to your level so you could understand.

An utterly insignificant vapid little twit like you couldn't even begin to approach my level with a ladder on the summit of Mt. Everest.

You already proved that fact, ya hapless helpless hopeless hump.

Now, hurry back with more of your non-contribution to anything in life.

 

[DGS49]

I take exception to the ejaculation: "NA NA NA NA NA NA!"

Everyone knows it is properly rendered, "Nya, nya, nya, nya, nya!"

 

[IlarMeilyr]

I take exception to the ejaculation: "NA NA NA NA NA NA!"

Everyone knows it is properly rendered, "Nya, nya, nya, nya, nya!"

Everyone with even a trace amount of intelligence.

This explains why hangbloviator didn't know it.