Sunday, June 22, 2014

Donald Sterling as Human Lightning Rod


Donald Sterling
Donald Sterling
I was on the go, and reading The sad last chapter of Sterling's life, by ESPN Ramona Shelburne, on my smart phone.  But I read only half of it, before I had to get going.  I tweeted it, so I could track it down easily and finish it later on.  But my friend responded to that tweet, and she and I launched into a Twitter conversation so brisk that we hardly had time to read each other's tweets, before responding.  The nice thing, though, about social media is that we could go back to all of our tweets and at least acknowledge them.  So, in a way, we didn't stitch together a perfectly patterned fabric, but we managed to close all the stitches we needed to close.
































I have been collecting articles and clips on Donald Sterling, since TMZ broke his fateful conversation with V. Stiviano at the end of April - Clippers Owner Donald Sterling to Girlfriend: Don't Bring Black People to My Games (Audio).  The Clippers were in the middle of the playoffs, and to say this news break was stunning is an understatement.  It rocked the NBA, and scores of analysts, fans and celebrities weighed in on one of the more ludicrous yet tragic stories we know.

Other than commenting here and there on Google+, I mostly kept reactions to myself.  I needed to get my arms around all that Sterling meant for himself, the NBA, and our society at large.  My thoughts and opinions were, and still are, very much inchoate.  But we don't, and can't, plan things out the way we want.  So when Ginger chimed in, I felt prompted to respond.  In our brisk conversation, we marked down a multiplicity of issues that I wanted to capture here and then add to.
  1. Racism was the centerpoint of that audio recording.  But I also heard a man who was terribly  envious of others with whom his mistress had photos with and had posted on Instagram.  A man who, I sensed, felt rather insecure and inadequate vis-a-vis the likes of Magic Johnson.  
  2. Some likened him to a plantation owner, who, as Clippers owner, lorded over African American coaches and athletes.  That's a very evocative, painful allusion to slavery in our history.  This issue alone warrants study, reflection and conversation.
  3. Apparently Sterling consented to the audio recording, but I'm not sure of this.  The conversation sounded stilted and set up on Stiviano's part.  Consent or no consent, this was a private conversation between two American adults.  I'm sure many of us have said far worse things in our own privacy.  
  4. I am curious about the estranged marriage between Sterling and his wife Shelly.  I wonder what this relationship was really like, and what Shelly's own issues, motives and shortcomings were.  She's a co-owner of the Clippers, and apparently was spared of the NBA wrath and punishment.  
  5. In fairly short order, several bidders came knocking to be the next owner of his hot franchise.  But it was Steve Ballmer, with whom Shelly inked a $2 billion conditional sales agreement.  So another issue was capitalism.  A man, roundly ridiculed by people and branded a racist, stands to gain in an enormous way for his racism.  My initial reaction?  Something is terribly wrong with this picture.  
  6. The manner and the route by which Shelly had license to ink a deal was yet another issue.  Apparently Sterling was deemed incompetent by his doctors, something to do with dementia, so his input and his signature were not needed for Shelly to move forward.  Besides this legal matter, however, I wonder about his state of mind.  
  7. Related to this medical condition, I wonder about the nature and depth of his psychological distress. Whether we hate him or not, he is still a human being, and is therefore prone to anxiety, regret and despondency at having been 'outed' for his racist remarks.  Moreover, there are reports that he abused his son Scott, but nonetheless what may have been a turbulent relationship doesn't preclude feelings of grief and remorse.  How much of his dementia is due to emotional turmoil, rather than neurological decline?
  8. If his concerns about his declining mental health weren't enough, Sterling is battling prostate cancer.  He's advanced in age already, and as I tweeted, he may not have long to live.  I can only imagine what the stress he's largely created and triggered is doing to his dementia and cancer.  
  9. After the NBA, his doctors delivered a major blow to his sense of dignity and capability.  So that prompted an angry tirade over voice mail, which ESPN aired two or three days ago.  According to reports, he was off-again, on-again as far as fighting these issues was concerned.  The NBA verdict on the $2 billion deal may not be delivered until mid-September, and Sterling risks losing a large windfall if he keeps the fight on.
  10. Others, and I myself, have wondered about his intelligence.  I don't follow the Clippers, but for the longest time, under Sterling's tenure, they were not on the radar for good teams in the NBA.  His apparent unwillingness to invest in the team was seen by some as an example of his mismanagement and incompetency.  But I wouldn't be so quick with that conclusion: More than 30 years ago, Sterling bought the team for two handfuls of millions.  Ballmer's offer sheet, notwithstanding, analysts have pegged the value of the Clippers at close to one billion.  As Ginger said, he's a sly fox, and as I said, he's a cunning businessman.
  11. The fact that malicious attitudes, such as racism and bullying, ran deep in some people was, to me, an indication that whatever society has done so far has, at best, not been enough, and, at worst, fallen terribly short of resolve the matter.  The NBA can, and did, lay the hammer on Sterling, but what did that really resolving or eliminate?  I have argued that control measures are a necessary but insufficient condition for resolving discrimination, prejudice and racism.  
  12. The beauty of social media and mobile devices is that many, many of us can weigh in on any issue, as we wish.  But even as Sterling is dead center in this tragic human drama, we are very much interwoven threads in that.  Whatever thoughts and reactions we have related are subject to judgment, that is, subject to having the large mirror held in front of us.  We can hate on him, for that is understandable given how despicable his remarks were.  But isn't hatred at the very essence of racism in particular?    
I would love to tell Sterling's story.  I am neither a journalist nor a novelist.  But I am a management consultant and a clinical psychologist, who grasps people well and writes about them well.  I want to tell a complete story, that accounts for his own viewpoint and experience and also accounts for everything else I noted in the foregoing points.  There are multiple corners to illuminate and multiple lessons to learn, so these points may just be the tip of the iceberg, as I continue to get my arms around all the issues and engage in many more conversations.  I want to tell a complete story, because I feel it would be significant steps forward in resolving an undercurrent of prejudice and malice among us, in relation to each other.

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