NBA Bans L.A. Clippers Owner Donald Sterling For Life, Hip-Hop Artists React

Earlier today, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced a lifetime ban sanctioned against 30-plus-year owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling. The streamed and televised press conference took place following a week where racist remarks from Sterling during a phone-called were leaked to website TMZ.com. Additionally, Sterling will be forced to sell or turn over ownership of the longtime struggling franchise-turned-playoff team that he has owned since 1981.

“The hateful opinions voiced by that of the man [on the recording] are those of Donald Sterling,” confirmed the commissioner.

Donald Sterling, V. Stiviano

Those remarks to Sterling’s alleged former mistress, known as V. Stiviano (pictured with Sterling), included the following statement: “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?” he says. “You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in. You can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games.” The comments are believed to be in response to the woman’s Instagram post of her and NBA Hall Of Famed Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Johnson, who is an owner in the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise, formerly owned a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, which shares the Staples Center as a home court, along with the Clippers. Prior to the audio surfacing, Sterling was scheduled to receive his second NAACP award, adding irony to the leaked comments.

During the last several days, public outcry has called for a banning of the team, due to the owner’s comments.

As was the case last week with the breaking news (see Snoop Dogg’s powerful response), with today’s update, a host of Hip-Hop personalities and rappers reacted via Twitter. From strong, impassioned statements, to jokes, to pleading for ongoing consideration of other leading issues surrounding race in America, some of these reactions are below:

What artist reaction, whether above, or elsewhere, most aligns with your own sentiments surrounding this issue?

Related: The 20th Anniversary of the original NBA Dream Team