Rockets owner Leslie Alexander’s goal was as clear as the anger and disgust in the tone of his voice. He had heard the recording of Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s racist and hateful comments. He had met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver. He wanted Sterling out the NBA.
Calling the comments “disgusting,” Alexander said he told Silver he should stab “a sword” into the heart of Sterling’s ownership of the Clippers.
“I thought that there’s got to be a way to disrupt him from owning the team,” said Alexander, who after 20 years owning the Rockets is one of the longest tenured owners in the NBA. “I gave him the sword to deal with this. I said, ‘Let the players become free agents.’”
Alexander said the goal of his suggestion was not to break up the Clippers, considered among the league’s top teams, or even to punish Sterling. He said the objective was solely to back Sterling into a corner from which he will choose to sell the Clippers.
The NBA constitution does not allow the league owners to remove Sterling, Alexander said. But he added that the NBA needed to take steps to drive Sterling from the league.
“This kind of behavior can’t be allowed in the NBA by owners, players or anybody,” Alexander said. “This guy has no place in the family of the NBA. Whatever it takes, we have to make sure this kind of event never happens again.”
Win win situation for everyone?