NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Tuesday that Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has been banned for life and fined the maximum of $2.5 million for a string of racist comments made in a conversation taped by his ex-girlfriend.
Silver also revealed the NBA's investigation concluded that the voice on the tapes is indeed Sterling's.
Prior to Silver's decision, Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith told reporters Tuesday that Sterling's diatribe is "troubling."
"Everyone has someone that's over them," Smith said. "And as an owner, they have a commissioner that I'm sure is going to come down and do the right thing for the good of the league."
Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer has also weighed in on the subject, stating that Sterling's alleged comments are "disappointing."
"I've been focused on the draft," Farmer said Monday, "but I will say I'm happy that I'm in a situation where we don't have to worry about those comments being made."
Considering Sterling's long history of offenses, the NBA's punishment is fitting.
Silver should be applauded for going even further than Major League Baseball did when faced with a similar controversy in the 1990s.
After a one-year ban for racist and insensitive comments in 1993, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was suspended for two years in 1996 for stating her support of Adolf Hitler.
Facing a third suspension and a potential ouster, Schott disappeared from the public eye when she sold the franchise in 1999.
A similar fate awaits Sterling.
