Griffin knew Sterling was racist before tape went public

http://www.csnbayarea.com/warriors/griffin-knew-sterling-was-racist-tape-went-public?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo

ProBasketballTalk
Comcast Sportsnet
September 22, 2014, 2:15 pm

“I hate to say this, and it might sound ignorant, but I wasn’t surprised that all this came up. Not necessarily the manner in which it was said, or the exact things, but like I said: This was my first impression of him. ”

—  Blake Griffin on Donald Sterling

Everyone around the Clippers knew that Donald Sterling was still Donald Sterling.

He had been steered away from serious involvement in the basketball operations side for several years. He had been kept out of the limelight as much as possible.

But everyone around the Clippers knew the man, knew the history, and knew that someday Mount Sterling could erupt in controversy and there would be a lot of damage and cleanup.

Blake Griffin knew it.

Speaking with GQ’s Zach Baron on a variety of topics (including comedy, dating in Los Angeles, the Lakers, LeBron in Cleveland, etc.), Griffin said he knew about Sterling’s racism from right before he got drafted but that he and the owner had little interaction.

“When the draft lottery came out and the Clippers said they were gonna draft me, I went to Google to find out more about the Clippers, because I didn’t know a lot," Griffin said. "And I was like, 'Okay, team owned by Donald Sterling.'

"So then I typed in 'Donald Sterling' in Google, and the first thing that pops up is 'Donald Sterling racist.' And I was like, 'Whoa!'

"So obviously I explored that, read a whole bunch of articles, read the deposition at one of his court cases..."

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So why all the public wailing and gnashing of teeth by the players and coach after the tapes came out?  If you knew he was a racist when you signed the contract to play or coach for this owner, what difference did it make that he was a proven racist, or a publicly humiliated racist, or whatever he became AFTER the tapes came out?

Threats to sit out games, pregame halfcourt jersey piles, etc.?  The sad fact is that money talks, leave your convictions at the door until the media concentrates its attention on it.  Sort of like the NFL and domestic abuse.  SMH.

gyso

Dollar signs change everything. It's enough to make the NBA jettison said racist after a little bit of public pressure.


KJ