Faced with the biggest challenge of his short tenure as NBA commissioner, Adam Silver admitted after his Donald Sterling press conference that his big moment for determining Sterling’s punishment came from his seven-year old son.
After a sleepless night during which Silver was in touch with lawyers, owners, player reps, and his neighbor, Silver had spreadsheets and legal books spread around his house when his son walked in for breakfast.
“Why don’t you just kick him out forever,” said the boy.
Time stopped. Somewhere a dog barked.
“What did you say?” the commissioner asked.
“Why don’t you kick him out?” I asked. “That’s what I would do.”
Suddenly, Silver forgot about the hypocrisy of everybody in the league knowing the Donald Sterling is a racist and never doing anything about it, of players and coaches telling people to stop giving him money while they gladly accept his money, and the creepiness of Sterling still calling someone a girlfriend.
Crisis averted. The race for owner with whom you would least like to sit at a game is open again, and Mark Cuban is currently leading the pack.
