Donald Sterling and his legacy

Donald Sterling certainly has a legacy, he has long earned the title of the one of the stingiest owners in all of sports.  And there has been a definite consequence of being that stingy, he has continually lost any good players he has had in his tenure as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. He has lost those players to other teams, teams with owners who understood that you need to spend money to have a good product.  I would submit George Steinbrenner as the anti Donald Sterling.  In any event, I would have to say that Mr. Sterling has earned the legacy of professional impotence.  That is, from this point on, I believe in terms of his professional career as an owner of that franchise, that the Clippers will be looked as one of the most futile franchises in all of sports.

However Mr. Sterling has, as all of us do, another legacy that he will leave this earth with, a personal legacy.  Because all of the career losses and personnel faux pas in the world, do nothing to define what kind of man, Mr. Sterling is.  However, some of his actions do, specifically actions taken against him.  I submit one of those actions that define his personal legacy, is the 2.735 Million dollar judgment that has just been levied against him by the United States Department of Justice for using discriminatory housing policies in properties he owns in downtown Los Angeles.

Now let's not forget that Mr. Sterling has considerable financial capitol, one conservative estimate is that he is worth at least $500 million dollars, having made most of his money through lucrative real estate deals.  Also I will state one of the more distasteful portions of this, he also is an attorney.

Let me state very briefly my understanding of the Fair Housing Act, which is what Mr. Sterling has been charged with violating.  Essentially it states, that a landlord may not discriminate on whom he rents based on a number of protected classes, and one of those unsurprisingly is race.  According to the FHA, you cannot deny someone the right to have housing, if they are otherwise qualified, based on a protected status, again, in this case based on their race.

Well guess what happened....yes reader, you guessed it.  Our fair fat cat owner, let me remind you also an attorney and very established real estate entrepreneur, who is worth over $500 million , decided he needed to hurt the very people who most needed protection.  The allegations against Mr. Sterling are that he discriminated against Black and Latino families who wanted to rent some of his properties that he owned in the downtown Los Angeles area.  Apparently Mr. Sterling and his wife, stated that Black and Latinos were not desirable tenants.

You know maybe a landlord could get away with that kind of bigotry in an area in which they are...how do I say this diplomatically, not as many Blacks and Latinos per capita as downtown Los Angeles?  So not only should he know better than to do this, as he is an attorney and real estate aficionado, but he also is being brazen and obvious with his discriminatory practices.  Seriously, can I give Donald Sterling my, OMG are you that stupid , award of the day?

Stupidity is one thing, but this fat cat is discriminating against a group of people that need help the most, he is worth more than most people who will ever come into his path, will ever see, and he is blatantly stopping them from attaining the most basic of needs.  When was the last time Mr. Sterling had to fight and plead, just to get a roof over his head.

Being professionally impotent in terms of how bad he has run the clippers through the years is one thing.  However, Donald Sterling has attained a new level of personal depravity, by attempting to make money when he knowingly was not only violating the law (something if he currently holds a California bar car, could put him in hot water as far as the ethics board) , but also doing it knowing the dire effects it can have, and doing it so obviously, it was if he was screaming, "come after me if you dare."

One day we will all leave this earth, and the only thing left will be our legacy.  I hope you are happy with yours Mr. Sterling, I hope all of your self-serving, stingy, arrogant actions have brought you great enjoyment in this life.  However, you will not judge your own legacy, you will be judged at a minimum by those left after your are gone.  So far Mr. Sterling,  your record is crystal clear.

As always,

Keep sports on your mind, and the law on your side.

The Sports Law Blogger
http://www.sportslaw-sportslaw.blogspot.com