coverage here on cnn. viewers in the united states and around the world will be watching. we have our cnn reporters standing by, a panel of experts. let's hand over our coverage right now to my colleague, and good friend, brooke baldwin. brooke? >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. thank you so much. great to be with all of you. i'm brooke baldwin. we're live with the breaking news. i'm sure this is a packed room, nba headquarters here in new york city. we are moments away from, as thurl bailey just put it, something incredibly historic. this story is now bigger than basketball. we are waiting for nba commissioner adam silver to step behind that podium, and discuss the league's investigation into the racist comments allegedly made by the l.a. clippers owner, donald sterling. so any minute now, we will see him take to the mic and break some news here, that so many people are waiting to see and

hear. we have the whole thing covered for you right here at the top of the hour with cnn sports anchor, rachel nichols. she is inside that room. we will check in with her momentarily. of course, once the news conference begins, i will stop talking, we will take that live, in full. a little bit of back story. donald sterling has kept a fairly low profile since this audiotape emerged. but see this video? he, along with his wife -- i should say his estranged wife, were caught leaving a los angeles area strount jurestaura this past sunday night. the paparazzi shouting questions at him. he himself didn't answer any questions about the audiotape, which he allegedly made. these racist remarks about african-americans. but the comment attributed to him has ignited a firestorm in the professional sports community. take a listen.

>> don't come to my games. don't bring black people, don't come. >> do you know you have a team that's black? >> i support them and i've given them food and clothes and cars and houses. who gives it to them? does someone else give it to them? >> that was a piece of this audio. you're seeing here, this is the clippers team, this is what they did, this silent protest at the play-off game this past weekend, game four in oakland. you know, warming up without any visible clippers logo here. tonight will be the first game. we're hours away from the first game at the staples center in l.a. since this whole story broke. and everyone is waiting to see how the players, how coach doc rivers, how the fans in l.a. will be reacting. so we have live coverage for you here on this from every single angle. stephanie elam is live at the staples center for us in los angeles. thurl bailey is vice chairman of

the nba retired players association. and a former nba player. jerry stackhouse is a former nba star, just retired this past season after 18 years in the league. david cornwell is a sports attorney. and cnn's wolf blitzer is staying on with me here as we continue to wait for this news conference to begin at nba headquarters. you see the bottom right of your screen. jerry, you're here with me in the studio, let me begin with you. really at this moment it is a guessing game. we don't know what the commissioner will rule, will decide, short of forcing sterling to sell. but ahead of this, what are you thinking? >> i don't think that he has the power to force him to sell. >> he doesn't. >> i think it's going to be some extreme as far as suspension, and maybe not attending any more games. but i cannot see that the owners who put themselves in the position to allow the commissioner to take the team away from him. >> you are fresh out of the league.

i mean, help us understand the mind-set, finally, i think this is the winningest season for the clippers, right, in their franchise history. here they are ahead of game five, a couple of hours away. how would you be feeling? >> i'd like to put it in perspective. there's probably a ton of -- a number of players that have played for the los angeles clippers that have never even spoken to donald sterling. so i think it's getting a little blown out of proportion. no one wants to play for an owner who has his views and has that type of vial opinion about african-americans. but i think we -- you know, it's not the first, and i'm pretty sure he's not the only owner. in some certain collective bargaining sentence, it's been put out that we pay you. this is banter that goes on during the collective bargaining and nobody says anything about it. now that this, you know, this tape that's been obtained illegally, in my opinion, now all of a sudden it's raising this big stir.

i think he shouldn't be the only one to wear this hat, in my opinion. >> stay right here with me in the studio, jerry. let's broaden the conversation. thurl bailey, you've been watching, as we could be getting a bombshell, as big as we could see within his own legal capacity as far as the commissioner adam silver goes. what are you thinking might happen here as we watch and wait? >> well, i know what i hope happens. and i think each one of us may be different in our opinion, but ultimately i think we all like to see some justice done. and a stern reprimand. but i have to agree with jerry in some ways. but in other ways i think regardless of how the tape was recorded, or whether it was a private conversation or not, i think it shows the true light of who donald sterling is. and regardless of what he's done in the past, regardless of good

deeds or bad deeds, now it's public. it's public for the world to see. and it's just a mark. it's a black mark, so to speak, on the nba. and this is historic. i'm anticipating what adam silver will do. and i hope that it has something to do with ban issuement. so we'll see in just a few minutes. >> we'll see. i'm keeping my eyes clearly trained on this live picture, nba headquarters as we're awaiting adam silver. he just had the top job a couple of months. and could, as thurl pointed out, could make history here as far as the league goes. wolf blitzer, let me bring you into this. this is a story that has reverberated. this is bigger than basketball. this has reverberated beyond the league, beyond professional sports. it's what anyone is really talking about right now, even the president of the united states, wolf, commented on it. we know he's a big basketball fan, he commented on this over the weekend.

>> while he was on a week-long visit to asia, he was asked about it, made a very, very strong statement. he's a huge basketball fan, as you know. and all of our viewers know as well, loves the nba, like so many of us. you're right, this is a lot bigger than just a local story. this is a huge story. not only in terms of the los angeles clippers in the nba, but sports in general. and what's going on in the country right now. people all over the world will be watching. you know, i want to quickly go -- i want to quickly go to brooke, to stephanie elam, outside the staples center. that's where the los angeles clippers and the los angeles lakers, they play. i know there are some folks wanting to get permits. they want to protest. what's going on over there, stephanie? >> reporter: wolf, as you know, it's early here. already you can feel the energy is starting to ramp up to what is about to happen, what we're going to hear from from the nba. and also as far as what's going to happen during this game tonight. the barricades are up. i've seen billboards being

changed. i can only assume these sponsorships that have fallen out. they're being very, very tight about security, because they're afraid about the protests, depending on the outcome of this press conference that we're about to listen to. they want to know that something is really going to happen, that is a severe punishment. which obviously people have concerns about. i've been looking at social media, talking to people out here. people are saying, i want to go to the game to support the players. other people saying all the players need to boycott from across the nba, not just the clippers. still, i think some people are going to come out to support the young men, but show their disdain for these comments by either wearing black, doing something else. what that concerted effort is going to be, we don't know. but we can definitely see the energy starting to ramp up this early in the day, wolf. >> i assume it will be a sellout crowd there at the staples center, stephanie. you know, my heart goes out to the players, not only the players for the clippers, but for the warriors. my heart goes out to all of

them, because this seems to be overshadowing what should be such a fun, exciting moment, the play-offs, the nba play-offs. what a great time. i'm sure you've been speaking to people about that. >> reporter: exactly. a lot of people are saying, think about it from the perspective of these men on this team. this is something that they've wanted all their life. you're going to assume. they've been playing a long time. this is something they've dreamed about. and here the clippers, a team that wasn't known for making it this far, is in this position, and to have this massive distraction. for the president of the players association to also be on the clippers, chris paul, to have to deal with this distraction, when other teams can just focus on their game. of course, the golden state warriors will be aware of all this going on. maybe they're hoping it will break in their favor. but they're not untouched by this scandal. no one in the nba is. and that's the difference with this. >> stephanie, thanks very much. that's why the new commissioner of the nba, adam silver is moving quickly. he's got to move decisively

right now. this comes at -- it would be awful at any time, but right in the middle of the play-offs. it's extremely awkward for those players, and certainly all of our hearts go out to those players right now. >> hours away from game five, best set of seven. definitely on the minds, i imagine not just of the l.a. clippers, but this is something that is pervasive among all teams. we saw the miami heat, a number of other teams marking this in solidarity. but the game is going on. the coach doc rivers saying basically, guys, play through. one of the questions a lot of people are wondering is, what does doc rivers do, depending on what the commissioner decides. will coach rivers say anything ahead of tonight's game, to address the fans, many of whom are furious as is much of the basketball community over this owner. since 1981, the longest franchise owner in nba history, allegedly said in these audio tapes. we're watching and waiting, let me be clear, this is actually technically not nba

headquarters. this is the hilton hotel in new york. maybe they needed a bigger room. i can imagine the media presence, the tremendous media presence awaiting this big announcement. what that announcement is, we still are watching and waiting to hear from this newly minted commissioner for nba, adam silver. david cornwell, let me bring you into this conversation. you are a sports attorney. you have thought through, i'm sure, all the different possible scenarios, given the power that this commissioner has, as far as decisions go. and donald sterling's future. what could we hear in a matter of minutes? >> well, i actually don't want to steal adam's thunder. but i just received a text indicating that he was going to suspend donald sterling indefinitely, and fine him $5 million. but would not attempt to take the team from him. i think that's a swing and a miss. i don't think it's enough. but if that's in fact the discipline that he imposes, it's

because the commissioner has determined that the road from here to taking the team from donald sterling is likely to be too bumpy, and too tough, that the owners don't want to endure it. but my view is that this is an unprecedented act that calls for an unprecedented response. there have been up to this point two kryptonite issues in sports. gambling, because it goes to the integrity of the game, steroids over the last two decades, because it goes to the integrity of the game, and now i think racism should be added to that list. because an owner simply should not be able to profit on the commitment and excellence of black men, and then hold these views about black men. there's just no place for this kind of person in professional sports, and particularly in the nba. >> david, let me step back a beat. because we at cnn do not have that reporting ahead of adam

silver's decision. can i just ask you, is your source from whom you received this text familiar with the situation currently? this is a viable source of yours? >> i'm willing to rely on them. but i can't make that decision for cnn, yes. >> okay. and so given that possible news that, again, we're waiting and watching for this news to break here, from the nba commissioner, just so we're all crystal clear and understand, in the position of commissioner, he cannot say, hey, you're fired, mr. sterling. because ultimately, it's up to, if it were to go this route, there are 30 owners, and it would take a three-fourths majority of those owners to say, yes, you need to yank the franchise, correct? >> yes. what they would do is essentially, it's called terminating the franchise. they would say that the clippers are no longer part of the nba. now, that would be essentially the nuclear option, and a practical solution to that would

be in order for mr. sterling, or donald sterling -- i don't think he deserves to be called mr. -- to preserve the value of the franchise, he would sell. and for the nba to preserve the franchise, they would allow him to sell. so you would impose this termination of the franchise with the expectation you would have a practical solution in the actual sale of the team. >> okay. mr. cornwell, i'm going to come back to you. again, just watching and reminding all of our viewers here, this is running about 15 minutes or so late, as we are waiting for a po tex bombshell from -- he's just been in the job a couple of months -- adam silver, the new nba commissioner to really decide publicly the fate of the l.a. clippers owner, donald sterling. here he is. let's take a listen. >> thank you all for being here. i apologize for starting a

little bit late. shortly after the release of an audio recording this past saturday morning, of a conversation that allegedly included clippers owner donald sterling, the nba commenced an investigation which among other things included an interview of mr. sterling. that investigation is now complete. the central findings of the investigation are that the man whose voice is heard on the recording, and on a second recording from the same conversation that was released on sunday, is mr. sterling. and that the hateful opinions voiced by that man are those of mr. sterling. the views expressed by mr. sterling are deeply offensive and harmful. that they came from an nba owner only heightens the damage and my

personal outrage. sentiments of this kind are contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic league. i am personally distraught that the views expressed by mr. sterling came from within an institution that has historically taken such a leadership role in matters of race relations. and caused current and former players, coaches, fans, and partners of the nba to question their very association with the league. to them, and pioneers of the game, like earl lloyd, chuck cooper, sweetwater clifton, the

great bill russell, and particularly magic johnson, i apologize. accordingly, effective immediately, i am banning mr. sterling for life from any association with the clippers organization, or the nba. mr. sterling may not attend any nba games or practices. he may not be present at any clippers facility, and he may not participate in any business where player personnel decisions involving the team. he will also be barred from attending nba board of governors meetings, or participating in any other league activity. i am also fining mr. sterling

$2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the nba constitution. these funds will be donated to organizations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts that will be jointly selected by the nba and its players association. as for mr. sterling's ownership interest in the clippers, i will urge the board of governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team, and will do everything in my power to ensure that that happens. this has been a painful moment for all members of the nba family. i appreciate the support and understanding of our players during this process. and i am particularly grateful for the leadership shown by

coach doc rivers, union president chris paul, and mayor kevin johnson of sacramento, who has been acting as the players' representative in this matter. we stand together in condemning mr. sterling's views. they simply have no place in the nba. thank you, and i'll take any questions. >> questions now? we start with scott in the back right. >> adam scott, bloomberg. do any of your adversaries have any clue as to whether sterling will acquiesce to your decision to sell the team or do you expect a fight? >> i have no idea. >> next question right here, rachel. >> from polling the owners that you've spoken to, what support

do you think you have to force mr. sterling to sell the team? >> i didn't poll the owners. i spoke to several owners. and i have their full support. >> on the right, brian? >> associated press. what kind of authority do they have to force a sale? >> the owners have the authority, subject to three-quarters vote, of the ownership groups of the partners to remove him as an owner. >> fifth row in the middle? >> the word you used specifically was outrage. you said that you were personally outraged. yet many people believe that they are outraged that for years, people have known that this man is a racist, slum lord, and the nba hasn't done anything until today. can you please answer why? >> i can't speak to past actions other than to say that when

specific evidence was brought to the nba, we akd. acted. >> over here. second row on the left. >> fox news for the kelly file. should someone lose their team for remarks shared in private, as this is a slippery slope? >> whether or not these remarks were initially shared in private, they are now public. and they represent his views. >> fifth row in the middle, tim? get a microphone there, please. >> new york post quoik. adam, what was the process to come into this decision over the last couple days, and when did you decide that this was the appropriate action to take? >> i ultimately decided this morning that this was the appropriate action, and the process beginning saturday morning when this first -- when this tape was first released was to apoint an investigator.

it was david anders from the wachtel lipton firm. he conducted interviews, some by phone, some in person. he concluded his investigation late last night. >> seventh row on the left, jeff? let's get the microphone to jeff, please. >> "usa today." adam, you said you would encourage owners to force the sale of the clippers. when will that action take place? >> the process will begin immediately. we will most likely use a standing committee of the nba. the equivalent of our executive committee is our finance committee. i've had discussions with glen taylor, chairman of the board and leader of the advisory finance committee. we will begin that process immediately. >> third row on the end, howard? >> adam, in your conversations with sterling, did he own up to

this immediately? was it only after you guys had come up with some sort of proof? and what, if anything, has he expressed approaching remorse, regret, anything? what's his sentiment at this point? >> mr. sterling acknowledged it was his voice on the tape. and he has not expressed to me directly any other views. >> we'll go right here, please. >> what message do you have for the clippers and their fans and their fan base in terms of moving forward from this point on? >> my message to the clippers fans is this league is far bigger than any one owner. any one coach, any one player. this institution has been around for a long time, and it will stand for a long time. and i have complete confidence in doc rivers, in the basketball management of that club, and the players deserve their support. they've just been through an incredibly difficult incident in their lives. >> on your left, harvey?

over against the wall. >> "new york times." was the punishment designed in effect to get the message across to mr. sterling that there's no point in -- there's no advantage, there's no -- nothing to be gained from him continuing his ownership? and also, in determining what the punishment would be, including the suggestion to the board of governors, did you take into account mr. sterling's past behavior, or was it just based on this one particular incident? >> in meting out this punishment, we did not take into account his past behavior. when the board ultimately considers his overall fitness to be an owner in the nba, they will take into account a lifetime of behavior. >> fifth row in the middle, ken? >> ken burger from cbs sports.com. adam, could you just explain, or lay out for us what specific

power in the constitution and bylaws you exercise with your ban, and what specific -- was it a broad violation or specific violation? and with respect to the forced sale, what specific section of the constitution covers that, and is that a broad violation or a specific one? >> i'll let the lawyers lay out for you the specific provisions of our constitution. let's just leave it. we have the authority to act as i've recommended. >> eighth row in the back, please? >> commissioner, stephanie from harlem community radio. is the nba considering more african-american ownership at this point? >> i'm sorry? could you repeat the question? >> sure, stephanie step from harlem community radio. is the nba considering more african-american ownership at this point? >> we're always open to ownership from people of all races, nationalities, ethnicities. we have an african-american primary owner in the league

right now, and david robinson is an owner. shaquille o'neal. and the primary owner of the sacramento kings. i believe we have a very diverse league. i would always like to see it become more diverse. >> what about magic johnson? is that an option at this point? >> magic johnson knows he's always welcome as an owner in this league. he's a past owner, and he's always welcome, and a close friend of the nba family. >> thank you. >> on your left, adam? >> maggie gray. did you talk to any of the players before you came to this decision, and what about the clippers players, if they do not want to play for a team owned by donald sterling anymore, do they have any recourse? >> i talked to several players before rendering my decision. coincidentally, i had had a trip planned for this weekend. i was in memphis for a game. i was in oakland. and then i was in portland sunday night for games. to chris paul. to talk directly-

i spoke to other members of the team. i spoke extensively to doc rivers. and as i said, kevin johnson has been representing the players' interests. he and i have been talking multiple times a day. so i believe the players will be satisfied with the decision, and the renderings that we've made today. if a player in the future doesn't want to play for the los angeles clippers, and he's under contract, we'll deal with that when it happens. but that's not my sense of where we are right now. >> back on the left. by the cameras. >> hi. insider. will is this situation cause you moving forward to put new rules in place for owners from the nba? >> i'm not sure. we're always willing to take a fresh look at our rules, our constitution and bylaws. but i believe we have appropriate rules in place right now to cover a situation like this. >> second row on the left, ian? >> espn new york. just to be clear, you said when

specific evidence was brought to the league, you did act. so in past cases, has donald sterling ever been fined or suspended for racial or offensive remarks? and if not, why not? >> he's never been suspended or fined by the league. because, while there have been well documented rumors, and cases filed, he was sued, and the plaintiff lost the lawsuit. that was elgin baylor. there was a case brought by the department of justice in which ultimately donald sterling settled. and there was no finding of guilt. those are the only cases that have been brought to our attention. and when those -- when those two litigations were brought, they were followed closely by the league office. >> just to follow up to that. one of the greatest players of all-time elgin baylor accused sterling of running a plantation style franchise. why was that not investigated? he lost the case. he has a prominent standing in the league and said some very

serious things. >> it concerned us greatly. we followed the litigation closely. and ultimately, elgin baylor did not prevail in that litigation. >> second row on the right side here? >> brandon robinson, source magazine. obviously car max and state farm withdrew their sponsorship of the l.a. clippers. as the commissioner of the nba, what would you tell other people maybe on the fence or people who have withdrawn to future invest in one of your franchise of the l.a. clippers? >> i would say those marketing partners of the clippers, and partners of the entire nba should judge us by our response to this incident. i think we've responded appropriately. and i would be hopeful they would return into their business relationships with the clippers. >> on the left in the front against the wall over there? >> thank you. jason carroll with cnn. i wonder if you've spoken to mr. sterling about this ban or any of his representatives, and if so, what has mr. sterling's reaction been to the punishment?

>> i did not speak directly to his representatives about this ban. they were informed shortly before this press conference. i did not hear precisely what their reaction was. >> robert silverman from "the daily beast." has there been any decisions about whether the immediate members of sterling's family, including rochelle, and his -- will be allowed to remain in an ownership or managerial position in the league as well? >> no, there have been no decisions about other members of the sterling family. and i should say that this ruling applies specifically to donald sterling, and donald sterling's conduct only. >> sixth row on the right. >> commissioner, mike mccarthy. as you mentioned, over a dozen sponsors have dropped the clippers. what has been the financial impact on this franchise, and on the league from this scandal? >> mike, i don't know.

this is all happening in three days. and so i'm hopeful that there will be no long-term damage to the league and to the clippers organization. but as i said earlier, i'm outraged, so i certainly understand other people's outrage. and it will take some time -- this will take some time. and appropriate healing will be necessary. i can understand precisely why, you know, whether they be people who affiliated with the nba or clippers for a long time, or the corporate partners, i can understand how upset they are. and i'll do my best to bring them back into the nba family. >> sixth row, in the middle. >> sean gregory from the "times." if the three-fourths does not force the sale, can you still institute the lifetime ban? >> the lifetime ban has been instituted. that is independent of forcing a sale of the team. >> in the middle. mike ba car ro, please.

>> "new york post." can you share with us what your initial reaction was when you first heard the voice on the tape, and what it was espousing? >> when i first heard it, i was shocked. i was hoping somehow that it was fraudulent, or it had been doctored. that possibly it wasn't indeed donald sterling. i've known donald for over 20 years. so i suspected it was his voice. and we set about immediately investigating. that was my reaction to sort of bear down and say, let's get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. >> sixth row on the right at the end? >> abc. mayor johnson has indicated he would like the league to undertake a full accounting of donald sterling's past and the failures by the nba to act until now. is that an account you would be willing to undertake? and would you make any effort to mete out the personal views of other nba owners at this point?

>> i've had, as i said earlier, multiple conversations with kevin johnson. and i'm hoping that the actions we take today will satisfy our players. i believe they should. >> right in front on the right. >> new york one. can you just tell us, you said you've known donald sterling for 20 years. what have your interactions over those 20 years been like with him? have you ever seen anything like this? have you ever felt anything like this? and what kind of man would you judge him to be prior to this? >> i have not been that close to him over the years, but there's nothing i've ever seen in his behavior that would evidence these kinds of views. certainly, because there has been a lot of public filings about his activities, i've been aware of those accusations, but there's nothing i've seen firsthand that would indicate that he held the views that were expressed on these audio recordings. >> back in the middle, please. raise your hand so he can see

you. >> i'm curious, just, you spoke about your personal response to this. in terms of donald sterling self-identifying as jewish, and you do the same as well, i'm wondering if there was a specific kind of pain associated with that for you, and if you felt a certain responsibility within the jewish community to be responding to this in this way? >> i think my response was as a human being. and i use the word distraught before. i spoke on saturday morning directly to chris paul, to doc rivers. and it wasn't even anger at that point. there was a certain somberness. and frankly, i felt sort of most strongly and personally for that team. while this affects every player, and anyone associated with the nba family, that for those players, and those coaches, to go out and do what they need to do, and play at the highest level in the world and have them hanging over this, i think

caused me to have a certain sadness, i would say, about the entire situation. i think this is regardless of anyone's religion, ethnicity, nationality, i think this is incredibly hurtful. >> i'll take two more. back by the cameras. >> mr. silver, at any time during your conversation with mr. sterling, did he express any remorse or denial regarding these comments? >> mr. sterling has not expressed those views directly to me. >> i'm going to take two more. andrew right here for one. >> it's been suggested that the sacramento players -- i'm sorry, the clippers players be granted free agency at the end of this year as a result of this issue. is that something that can be considered? >> that is not something we're considering. >> final question in the back in the middle. >> jason page, nbc sports radio. if you don't get the three-quarter vote that you

need, is it possible that donald sterling could still be an absentee owner profiting from this team? >> i fully expect to get the support i need from the other nba owners to remove him. >> thank you, adam. transcripts will be available later this afternoon. we will e-mail them out. give us your e-mail addresses and we'll get it out to you. >> there you have it, bombshell news with regard to clippers owner donald sterling. let me just run down them for you. first of all, we heard according to the nba, mr. sterling has been bann ened for life for any association with the clippers team, with the nba. that includes going to games, going to practice, stepping inside any kind of facility, any involvement with the board of governors, group of owners of the nba teams. that was number one. number two, he will be facing a $2.5 million fine. that is the maximum amount of money they could fine him under

the nba constitution. that money will end up being donated then to organizations of diversity, inclusion. that money will be donated, the $2.5 million. here's the third point, this is what people were listening for with regard to a possible forced vote, getting this man out of his job as the clippers owner. the precise word from adam silver was "urge." he will urge the owners to force a sale of the team. and that forced urging, he says, will begin immediately. so let me bring in our entire panel, just to marinate, really, on what we just heard. 18 seasons with the nba, most recently with the brooklyn nets, and also thurl bailey, vice president of the nba retired players association. stephanie elam is standing outside the staples center for us, the first home game since

the controversy erupted. question number two to adam silver there inside of the nba news conference. we have david cornwell, sports attorney. all voices we want to hear from here as we've heard the news from the nba. jerry stackhouse, first to you. you were nodding along. we were talking sort of through this entire thing, and you were pleased -- >> i was. i was very pleased with the outcome. i think as far as the constitution stands, he pushed it all the way to the limit. he gave him the maximum fine, banned him for life, he can't be part of the nba or clippers organization, or any other organization for that matter. and he's going to push the owners to really get him out of our game. i think that's going to be a tougher road, because he has ownership. and what that number is, i think that's going to have to sweeten the pot for him to go away. i think ultimately it will get him out of our game. >> as we were talking, this is a

man, donald sterling, he's worth something like $2 billion as it is. bought the team, the clippers, for how much? >> $12 million. >> $12 million. now could turn around and worth some $500 million, $600 million. worst case from him, if the forced sale happens, this man walks away an even richer man, correct? >> absolutely. he's always been an owner that has benefited from the revenue sharing. up until recently, the clippers were never really a contingent team, never put a lot of money into. >> until this season. >> until this season. i think that it's unfortunate for the players, for our league that we have to deal with this. but it's great we can move forward and know we don't have people that are that blatant and that type of view still in our game. >> rachel nichols is standing by. she's got a microphone. there she is. inside that room. rachel, wow, seemed to me we were just talking, jerry

stackhouse and i, listening to adam silver, he seemed -- i mean, this was personal. the words he was using, hateful opinions, deeply offensive, harmful, condemning. this was major news today. >> reporter: absolutely. look, this is his league. this is the league that he's dedicated his entire life to. he may be a new commissioner, but he's worked in this league for more than two decades. this is a league that has gone out of its way to pride itself on diversity. hiring the first african-american general managers, the african-american majority owner. they have a great track record with women. jason collins now active in the nba. >> forgive me. we've got a lot of balls in the air right now. we want to go straight now to los angeles. we'll come back to you in new york. this is the mayor of los angeles, also standing next to him, one of the guys, kevin johnson, adviser to the nba players association. let's listen. >> thank you all for coming here today, especially to my friends who are standing here alongside

with me. and especially kevin johnson. my peer as a mayor, but not my peer as a basketball player. i want to make clear that what we just heard today isn't just about basketball. this is about los angeles. the clippers have on their jerseys this city's name. a name that stands for tolerance, openness, diversity, it stands for civil rights, it stands for break-throughs, and most of all, it stands for basketball excellence. we may be a two-team town, but today we are behind one team. and the players of the los angeles clippers, who tonight we want to know that we love you, we are behind you, and that today we feel like justice has begun to be served. the statements that we have heard that we have confirmed are the exact opposite of what this town is about. and today we stand as angels in

this city, saying we will not tolerate this from anybody, from any company, least of all, one that bears this great city's name. so i want to personally thank commissioner silver for bringing down the hammer, for being as strong as he could be, for saying that none of us as americans, and certainly not as angeles, this city is open for business. it is ready for ess. that is reflected behind me. i'll say a few more wordsords i moment but i want to toss this over to my partner who has been a great adviser to the commissioner, to the fellow players, and certainly to me as mayor. the mayor of sacramento, and basketball legend, please welcome mayor kevin johnson. [ applause ] >> i want thank the mayor for opening up city hall to us today. and certainly for his remarks. this is an example for all of us that this is bigger than basketball. and there's a number of people

behind me, i want to thank all the current players that are behind me. i want to thank all the former players that are behind me. and certainly, the future players. we are trying to set an example for them. i want to thank city council members. we have our president of the city council here. we have civic leadership. we have civil rights organizations. we have business and labor. everybody united today. so in terms of where we are, this is a defining moment in our history. throughout history, sports has played a pivotal role in advancing civil rights. tony smith, john carlos, at the 1968 olympics. great leaders like muhammad ali, jim brown, arthur ashe, jason collins, and our very own jackie robinson. i believe that today stands as

one of those great moments. where sports, once again, transcends, where sports provides a place for fundamental change on how our country should think and act. this is also a statement about where we are as a country. it doesn't matter if you're a professional basketball player worth millions of dollars. or a man or woman who works hard for their family. there will be zero tolerance for institutional racism, no matter how rich or powerful. let me say how proud i am of the players of this league for standing up for themselves. the biggest stars to the everyday players, they were not afraid to articulate their outrage, and what they felt about this situation. they came out strong, they came out powerful, and they did it in

a very, very professional way. the players asked me to represent them. i was humbled and honored. and they said to me, mayor, we want you to go to commissioner silver and tell him three things that are important for us. number one, we need immediate action. number two, we need the players' voice to be heard, our collective voice. we want a seat at the table and we do not want to be passive participants. and thirdly, we want maximum allowable punishment under the bylaws and the constitution, and what that equates to for us as players, there must be a change in ownership. >> all right! [ applause ] >> the players spoke. they acted. and they were listened to.

the players association is an organization that doesn't just represent one player, but it represents over 450 players in the nba. it represents the golden state warriors, it represents the l.a. clippers, it represents the l.a. lakers, it represents 30 teams around this league. and this league of players are standing together in one voice. the nba constitution states this. the commissioner shall be charged with protecting the integrity of the game, and preserving public confidence to our fans. today, the players believe the commissioner has done his duty. on this day, adam silver is not only the owners' commissioner, he is also the players' commissioner. and we're proud to call him our commissioner. [ applause ]

i want to also say, this is a very stark reminder that we still have a lot of work to do. yes, we have an african-american president, yes, justice was in a swift manner and forceful, yes, that occurred today. but these events remind all of us that hatred and bigotry are far from over. i hope that every bigot in this country sees what happened to mr. sterling, and recognizes that if he can fall, so can you. at this point in time, i want to say on behalf of the players, we are so proud of our mayor of this great city of los angeles, the other mayors who came out today, and you're going to hear from three or four players that

represent current players, former players and then we'll open it up to questions after the mayor closes us out. i'd like to bring up the first vice president of the players association, roger mason. [ applause ] >> first of all, i'd like to thank mayor carcetti and mayor johnson who has been so helpful for us at the players association, and all the work he's been doing for us. i have a few important points that i would like to talk about today. i'm here today on behalf of the mvpa, the executive committee, in over 400 current players. as you heard earlier, this was not just about us players, to be clear. this waste just about black or white. this really was about right and wrong. this has offended people across

the board, and we will not be discriminated against. yesterday we had a call that mayor johnson had for us as players with executive committee members, player reps and players across the league. mayor johnson asked us what our views on the situation were. as you heard, we gave him three points. additionally, i reached out to other players around the league, and made it clear that the players were ready to boycott the games, if this type of action was not something that adam silver felt was necessary. i'm happy to come here to say today that as players, we're very happy with the decision, but we're not content yet. we want immediate action. we want a timetable from the owners as far as when this vote's going to happen. but we feel confident that with adam silver's urging, and obviously we've heard from a lot of the owners from around the

league, we think this is something that can be handled quickly. finally, i just want to thank all the players who have not only been professional, but have been just tremendous with their support, and i want to thank everybody behind me, all the former players, current players, and everybody that banded together for this really historic event. thank you. [ applause ] >> so, i want you guys to know that last night, until 12:00, 1:00 in the morning, 4:00 in the morning, 5:00 in the morning, these players were all communicating. they cared about what was going to take place. i talked to a former teammate of mine, steve nash, late last night. we went back and forth. he rearranged his schedule. at this point i would like steve nash to come represent current players. [ applause ]

>> thank you, mayor. wow, this is an astonishing situation, obviously. and after initial outrage, disappointment, and sadness, i think today is a proud moment, not only for the players association, current and former players, the nba, and as a father of three, and member of this community, i want to thank both mayors, the players association, and adam silver for quick, unequivocal, and concise decision made today on behalf of everybody involved in this situation. it begs a bigger question, you know. if racism is a learned behavior, how long will it go on for? you know, how long will people be taught to be bigoted, to discriminate, and to instill

hatred in our communities? let's hope this is an opportunity for all of us as players, former players, as a league, as a community, to help educate and take one step further to eradicating racism in our communities. again, this is a proud day for all of us players, for our league, and i want to thank everybody for all their hard work to find this quick resolution. and hopefully we can see out adam silver's decision today, make this thing a thing of the past as quickly as possible. thank you [ applause ] >> at this point i want to thank tyson for coming as well. and luke. i'm just so proud of this fraternity we call the nba. we have said time and time again, we are one family. and it's not just a league of owners, or league of players. we're one family.

and when one rotten apple does something, or if you see cancer, you've got to cut it out really quickly. commissioner silver did that in realtime, and again, we're just so proud and thankful for him. at this time, i'm going to do something a little different. i want to bring up the captain, the one and only -- y'all can go ahead and clap. [ applause ] i'm going to bring up kareem abdul-jabbar. [ cheers and applause ] when you think about what magic johnson means to this league, there was one man that influenced him early in his career. and it was kareem abdul-jabbar. you know he's quiet, reads a lot, tries to mind his own business. but what took place three days ago got the big fella up, and got on the road the last couple

days. he's been up half the night articulating his views. so i'd like kareem to come up, and all the former lakers to stand beside him. [ applause ] >> thank you, mayor kevin. i don't know if i'll ever get used to that. but thank you so much. i just want to say, if i start stutter erg, it's because i haven't gotten much sleep in the past couple of days. because this really bothered me. but i'm just thrilled with what commissioner silver did. he got on the case immediately. he got to the bottom of whatever mysteries that there were involved in this. and figured out what the truth was. and his actions and focus were so on the mark. it was unbelievable. you should have heard us in there when we were listening to the press conference. we all started clapping, because he handled it the right way.

i'm so happy that he did that. and it's going to be a new day here in this city. and a whole lot of clipper fans are going to have a lot more to smile about. and that's what this is all about. so again, i'm thrilled that -- with the outcome. most of the players i've spoken to, just since the press conference, feel the same way. and we're looking forward to some very positive changes that will make this city an even more wonderful place than it already is. thank you. [ applause ] >> at this time i'll bring up mayor garcetti back. there are a lot of council members. i'll have you guys come hang around, since you're probably rooting for the clippers right now. i'll give the clippers fans an opportunity to have full force. mayor and the council members.

>> thank you. i want to thank herb, the council president for his leadership. council members price and parks had spoken out in motions that i think might have influenced the commissioner. council member o'farrell, sadio, chris, city attorney mike fuhrer who is here. this is really one city. when you get this many lakers to stand up for the clippers, you know something big is happening in l.a. [ applause ] and we are a single team here today. a team not only speaking out for what we're against -- >> we're going to pull away from this just momentarily. we've got the heads-up the mayor is about to speak in spanish. what we heard moments ago from him. we promise we'll take you back. he's going to take some questions from folks in the crowd. but while we're watching this, it was kevin johnson who said, we are one. before we go to rachel nichols, guys, go ahead and throw up the screen grab from nba.com. this black and white screen grab really tells the story of where

the league is. really, this story is bigger than basketball. we are one. with the l.a. clipper logo. if you go to nba.com right now, that is what you will see. rachel nichols, you were in the packed room when we heard the news from adam silver delivering a pretty stiff blow, as stiff as he could in his constitutional rights as nba commissioner. what did you think of the whole thing? >> reporter: i think it was fascinating. certainly he stepped up and did as much as he could with his full power. as you just heard there, the players are thrilled about it. i've already gotten a bunch of texts from players around the league. they feel great about what adam silver did. adam took it a step further. he said he's going to strongly encourage the other owners and the board of governors to force the sale of the l.a. clippers. now, that is going to be an interesting proposition, as you heard him say, and we've been talking about this on cnn all day, he needs three-quarters of

the other owners or their agents to agree to do this. that's a high percentage. and there's a lot of fervor today as this plays out over the coming days and weeks if he can collect that votes. you may have heard me ask in the press conference has he polled the other owners? he said he hasn't, but the owners he spoke to he's gotten support from. it will be interesting to see if those are the people supporting him and how much support he has around the league with those owners. we did hear one of the owners, dallas mavericks owner, he said yesterday he's concerned about the slippery slope of giving the commissioner too much power. that gives you an indication there's some trepidation among ownership of, hey, if we force donald sterling out today, and we give adam silver this power, is it me who's going to be forced out tomorrow. mark cuban tweeted this afternoon that he's happy with adam silver's decision. perhaps he's had a change of

heart. maybe the way adam silver is going about this goes far as well. he said i'm going to go to the owners and ask them to vote three-quarters vote to vote donald sterling out. it's still letting the owners retain their power. a split down the middle, maybe that's the way he was able to do this. if he's successful, it will be unprecedented. genius move to maneuver to get what he wants. >> we'll pop you back to l.a. but i want to push you on that. just talking to jerry stackhouse here in the studio, the point being that donald sterling has been in this position, he's the longest tenured owner in franchise history. i have to imagine he's brought in himself some of these current owners, brought them up, showed them how to do this, be part of the league, own teams. would the vote be private? would it be public?

would these people be willing to in a sense turn on him? >> the result is going to be public. certainly the votes themselves are private. but of course, owners who vote for it are proud of it. we'll just say they'll leak out what their decision is. i'm sure we'll hear in the coming days some owners make a stand publicly, because they want to and know it will engender support among players and fans. it will be interesting to see whether the owners go for this. obviously adam silver wouldn't have gotten up in front of the whole world today and said he was going to do this if he wasn't confident it was possible. there's now that he's gone and said this, he's making a public push here. even if he didn't necessarily have the votes this morning, the fact that he came out here and what he said was so pap lar, met in l.a. as universal acceptance, there's pressure on the owners to do what he's calling is the right thing. in the nfl, they basically used public pressure, concern over a

bunch of player arrests to make a power grab. maybe adam silver is doing the same here in the nba. it's fascinating and certainly in the service of a very good cause. >> rachel nichols, thank you so much. host of on guarded inside, that nba news conference with the commissioner. let's go back to l.a. this is kevin johnson taking some questions from the crowd. let's listen. >> i'm giving my personal commitment to make that happen. that was pretty clear to me. yes? i'm sorry? i think fans should come out and root on the clippers or warriors or whatever team is playing today. [ applause ] the fans' voices have been heard. when we say one family, yes, we talk about the owners. yes, we talk about the players. yes, we talk about elected officials. but at the end of the day, the fans are the life blood. they're the structure in which

this league has a spirit. so the fans need to come out. you know what the fans could have done? if commissioner silver would have been wishy-washy, if commissioner silver would have not come out as forceful as he did, then there's no reason for fans to not say, we're going to boy colt and we're going to protest. but when you get what you want in three days' time, you can't move any quicker than that. all of us back here, we have a responsibility to make sure there's due process. we have a responsibility not to be too hasty. but once commissioner silver said, that was his voice, we all were ready to rush to judgment at that point. >> the commissioner said in order to force the sale, he would need 75% of the vote. [ [ inaudible ] ] >> i absolutely do. let me speak on behalf of the sacramento kings owner. mayor, are you okay with that? >> yes. >> we're not in the play-offs this year. but if we had two teams, one of

the two might be in. so in terms of the sacramento kings, our owner is one of two majority owners, african-american, michael jordan, indian in irec. they reflect the league going forward. he didn't wait to see if it was okay. he didn't check for approval, he did the right thing and said zero tolerance. they've got to go through their process and they're going to do that. i was pretty clear and confident that commissioner silver was resolute in terms of, i talked to owners. they're going to support, i believe what i think should happen in this league. i think that was very clear. we're going to take one last question. yes? >> [ inaudible ]. >> the players haven't set a timetable. but the message has been clear. my phone's been going off the

hook. we want an immediate vote on the issue. immediate. and that's what i meant earlier when i said we're not quite satisfied, because we want it done asap. and that's where we're all on that stance. >> we're going to pull away from some of the q&a here. let me quickly tell you, the breaking news from the nba commissioner adam silver, just in the last couple of minutes, announcing from this manhattan hotel, saying that the owner, the longest tenured owner of an nba team, donald sterling, is now banned for life. that was the language he used, banned for life l.a. clipper related, anything nba related. and he will be fined under the constitution $2.5 million, the maximum penalty. the third point here from the commissioner, that he, the commissioner, will be urging owners to force the sale of the l.a. clipper team. let me bring back in my panel

here. thurl bailey let me go to you, retired player. i haven't heard from you yet since we heard from the commissioner. i want your thoughts, and then secondly, i'm curious what you think -- how you think the coach of this team, doc rivers, should respond, if he should respond ahead of game five tonight. >> first of all, let me tell you that i was just short of euphoric when i heard the decision. and i say that because as i'm listening to commissioner silver talk, it wasn't just about what he's charged to do as a commissioner. it was personal. it was personal to him. you could tell that. >> you could tell. >> you really could. i think anybody who saw that press conference couldn't help but be emotionally charged. and i think, what i felt was the fact that now you have a commissioner who's going to be in the room with his bosses.

and now his bosses have to make a decision. not just on a business sense, they have to reflect within themselves and say what kind of a person am i? am i going to stand for this? or is it just about ownership or friendship for me? should this happen in the league? i was just -- i was super, super thrilled with commissioner stern's decision. and it wouldn't have mattered how much money you fined him. even if it was over the $2.5 million. you know, don sterling is a very rich man. he will continue to be rich. but i was absolutely thrilled. you talk about doc rivers. i have no doubt that he will be thrilled as well with the decision that comes down. >> let me pause in the conversation with the word, euphoric, from you, thurl. we have to take a quick break, as we've been basically rolling coverage since the top of the press conference. back after this.

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from game five tonight. the clippers are home here, the first time they're playing at home since the controversy erupted other the weekend. thurl bailey is the vice chairman of the nba retired players association, and former nba player himself. jerry stackhouse sitting next to me, former nba star, played 18 years in the league. david cornwell, a sports attorney. so we will have a big conversation here. but in case you are just joining us on cnn, bombshell news here from the nba commissioner, adam silver. roll it. >> the central findings of the investigation are that the man whose voice is heard on the recording and on a second recording from the same conversation that was released on sunday is mr. sterling. and that the hateful opinions voiced by that man are those of mr. sterling. the views expressed by mr. sterling are deeply offensive

and harmful. that they came from an nba owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage. sentiments of this kind are contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic league. i am personally distraught that the views expressed by mr. sterling came from within an institution that has historically taken such a leadership role in matters of race relations. effective immediately, i am banning mr. sterling for life from any association with the clippers organization, or the

nba. mr. sterling may not attend any nba games or practices. he may not be present at any clippers facility, and he may not participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team. he will also be barred from attending nba board of governors meetings or participating in any other league activity. i am also fining mr. sterling $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the nba constitution. these funds will be donated to organizations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts that will be jointly selected by the nba and its players association. >> nba commissioner adam silver,

speaking there behind that podium in a new york hotel room, just about 20 minutes ago. we are just now here at cnn getting a statement from the team, from the l.a. clippers. they have released this statement. let me read it to you, regarding this ban for life of the clippers owner. quote, we wholeheartedly support and embrace the decision by the nba and commissioner adam silver today. now the healing process begins. short, sweet, to the point. again, just showing all of you if we can throw it up, if you go to nba.com, the three words that you will see on this black and white image, we are one. with the l.a. clippers logo there below it. jerry stackhouse, sitting next to you and watching this whole thing play out, just being real, we're seeing all these tweets from all these current and previous players, thrilled, your phone's been blowing up ever since we've been in here. i imagine from folks who are thrilled with what we just

heard, the swift justice, if you will, from the commissioner. but do you have any doubt in your mind that once these 30 owners get together and they need three-fourths majority for sterling to be out, do you have any doubt in your mind that won't happen? >> there's still a slight bit of doubt in my mind. it's great that the commissioner came down and did exactly what he did, what he was supposed to do. forced the issue, and made sure that he hit him hard. you know, banned him for life. gave him a big fine. but really forcing these owners, we've got one of the longest tenured owners in donald sterling. some of these owners have come through to this league, through him in a certain amount of way. and i think the vote will be behind closed doors. they only need about eight or nine to not have this happen. it takes, i think, three-quarters of the votes. not two-thirds. three-fourths. that's a lot of owners. and i think that he may have

some support, and some people, maybe not feel the same way that he feels, but this feels like that they don't want to go down this slippery slope, as mark cuban said, of being able to allow the commissioner to ban with other owners to take the franchise away. >> there may be some doubt that this man will continue to be an owner, continue making money and just not have anything to do, banned for life from the nba or anything clippers. let me come back to you. but stephanie elam, she is outside the staples center, hours away from game five. the team is back home. you said you're already seeing billboards changes, possibly previous sponsors, as we know, so many sponsors have pulled out from the l.a. clippers. and in l.a., the two-team city, but really today, backing one team. >> reporter: definitely. and brooke, it is really interesting to me that since this news broke, we have not heard anything really coming from sterling himself, saying

anything. yesterday when coach doc rivers had his press conference, i asked him a question, if he had heard from sterling. his answer was really telling to me. because he didn't say, no. he said, i was asked if i needed to speak to donald. and i passed. i felt like it wasn't the time. it wasn't even like it sounded to me, i interpreted that to say, he didn't reach out to me. the people reached out and asked if i needed that. that's not something i needed. listening to commissioner silver today, he's saying that he did not express any remorse, but he did admit that that was him on the tape. so now we don't have to say allegedly, because now we know, according to -- >> alleged out the window. >> reporter: out the window. so he said these words. this is what he said. and then all of this time, he's had nothing to say. no remorse. nothing else coming out of that. that is also very telling. it's very hard for anyone to get behind a man who's not going to stand assay, you know what, i shouldn't have said anything like that. the other issue are the young men that play for the clippers. in the middle of play-offs. something that they've wanted to

do. now they can focus on this game. they can focus on the task at hand and not worry so much about this distraction. they hope the fans will come out and support them as players, as a team and not take a look at this broader issue. one other point that i want to get in here, brooke, is the fact of race. i know a lot of people keep saying this is about black people. i really hope people would realize it's not. it's about people in general. i thought commissioner silver's answer to that one question about him being jewish and sterling being jewish, and he said i felt this and responded to this as a human being, is very telling. the fact that the current players came out with steve nash as a representative, also telling. they are united on this of the i know it's play-off season, but right now they are united on this as human beings. that is also really telling and why this is a key moment in american history. >> kevin johnson said it, it was like a jackie robinson moment, and jason collins moment.

will donald sterling respond? we wait to see. i have a feeling some people don't care. they want to play basketball. they want to play through tonight, game five, 2-2 so far. we've got to have a bigger conversation. a lot more to talk about. will doc rivers address to the fans. what about the team, what about moving forward in the nba and beyond. back after this. so there i was again, explaining my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis to another new stylist. it was a total embarrassment. and not the kind of attention i wanted. so i had a serious talk with my dermatologist about my treatment options. this time, she prescribed humira-adalimumab.

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on this day, adam silver is not only the owner's commissioner, he is also the players' commissioner. and we're proud to call him our commissioner. [ applause ]

i want to also say, this is a very stark reminder that we still have a lot of work to do. yes, we have an african-american president. yes, justice happened in a swift manner and forceful. yes, that occurred today. but these events remind all of us that hatred and bigotry are far from over. i hope that every bigot in this country sees what happened to mr. sterling, and recognizes that if he can fall, so can you. >> welcome back. i'm brooke baldwin. that was kevin johnson speaking moments ago in los angeles. standing alongside a lot of former and current nba players, as well as the mayor of los angeles. johnson is an adviser to the nba players association here as we continue to hear reaction to the news from commissioner silver,

with regard to the l.a. clipper owner's racist remarks. we can now definitively say, according to the nba, the man we've all heard on that tape is in fact donald sterling. and he is banned for life from the nba. let me bring back my panel. rachel nichols, let me go to you in new yorkment you were in the room. you had question number two to commissioner silver, talking about the ownership group, and this urging of this forced vote. but back on kevin johnson's point, i wrote this down because this really struck me. this is so personal to so many people, including the commissioner of the nba. it was so clear just looking at him. kevin johnson said, i have a message to bigots, if he, being donald sterling, if he can fall, so can you. >> reporter: yeah. look, we had president obama comment on this over the weekend. that tells you the far reaches that this decision and this incident, you know, stretches to. one thing that president obama said that i thought was so

inciteful is he said, look, a situation like this shows us that this racism still exists in the world. but the shock caused over it also shows us that maybe we're making some progress, and that action is being called. the actions in this case today are now being taken. it shows we're making progress going to where we want to be. i think it was another statement that we are moving toward the place we would all like to be as americans, how we treat each other, how we talk about each other. and i think that this is really a bold -- a lot of times we look at sports as a microcosm of our society. we laugh, we cheer together, we talk about teammates, no matter what color or background that they come from. banding together and how we would like to be like that in real life. guess what, we did that today. and i think that was a very positive step. >> the story trends in sports which was exactly what the mayor of los angeles was saying. rachel, thank you so much for us in new york. david cornwell, let me bring you back in, as a sports attorney, just to talk about the legalities of all of this.

when we heard from commissioner silver earlier, he said that sterling is banned for life from anything l.a. clippers, anything nba. they slapped the maximum fine, $2.5 million, and strongly urging effective immediately, the owners group, the 30 owners to basically vote him out, to force the sale of the clippers team so he'll no longer have his position. my question to you is, because i keep reading about donald sterling and reading that he is litigious by nature. could he fight any of this in court, or is this a done deal? >> it's pretty much a done deal. but that doesn't mean he won't try to fight it in court. the nba constitution provides for arbitration of disputes between the clubs, the club owners and commissioner's office, or between clubs themselves. so if he were to go to court, i think a judge would kick it out and say you have to resolve this by the arbitration provisions under the constitution and bylaws. guess who the arbitrator is, the

commissioner. >> aha. >> it's not appealable. he already knows what the result will be. that doesn't mean he won't file a lawsuit for some leverage purposes or something like that. but when you hear the term lifetime ban, that's about as close as taking a team away from somebody as you can. >> yeah. >> i've been trying to think of somebody other than pete rose that has had a lifetime ban in sports. and i can't think of anybody off the top of my head. so this is pretty significant. >> what about -- and we don't know which way this possible vote could go, as you pointed out, perfectly earlier, you have to have the three-quarters majority to force the sale of this team. but what if before that even happens, there are players who aren't comfortable still playing under this man? even though he is banned for life, as of now, he's still functioning as the owner of this team. is it possible for a player to want to get out of a contract because of this?

>> they may want to, but it's not possible to get out of the contract. the term of the contract is going to hold despite the conduct of the owner. so i think that you will see, as adam suggested, commissioner silver putting some pressure on owners to act swiftly on this vote. i would imagine that the fact that he didn't take action today, or announce it today, is an indication that the owners are not yet ready to do this. but by making the -- urging them publicly, one of the things you have to do as a commissioner is you have to rule your bosses. and one of the -- >> these are all his bosses, right, all these 30 owners, including donald sterling are the commissioner's bosses. >> exactly. what you do as a commissioner is build consensus. by putting public press, saying what i want as commissioner, it essentially says to the one-fourth plus one that would vote against this, to explain why that's not what you want as one of his partners. so i think this thing is

probably going to go in the direction of donald sterling ultimately not being an owner. >> to be clear, when and if this vote does take place, based upon the strong urging from the commissioner, it is a private vote, correct? >> oh, certainly. it is a private vote. the results will be announced. but as rachel suggested, the nature of the issue is such that i think that it's likely to be unanimous. but if it's not, everybody who voted for will make sure that every knows they voted for taking him away. >> weeks? >> absolutely. >> david cornwell, sports attorney there. thank you so much. have to go to a quick break on this breaking news. we will be right back with special coverage here, live, on cnn. in pursuit of all things awesome, amazing, and that's epic, bro, we've forgotten just how good good is.

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welcome back to cnn breaking news here. i'm brooke baldwin. we've been watching the last an hour and a half, the positive fallout, the euphoria to quote one of the former players here who's rejoining me, thurl bailey, the euphoria, in hearing from the nba commissioner adam silver announcing that the l.a. clippers owner is banned for life. strong language, banned for life from the nba, from the clippers. and he's urging a vote immediately to force the sale of the team. so thurl, and jerry stackhouse also joining me, former player, now retired, thurl, first to

you, you have to imagine the l.a. clippers were all sitting around a tv somewhere, right, watching the commissioner, and the news that he just broke about an hour ago. now, moving forward, we are mere hours from game five tonight, back home at the staples center. are we back to basketball, back to business as usual? >> yeah, i think so. it's just annoying that the process has just begun. but i think we are back to basketball as usual, knowing the decision that commissioner silver handed down. it's interesting, because during the past all-star weekend as a retired players organization, myself, birdsong as the chairman and ernie as ceo sat down with adam ville ver. and one of the things that we discovered is he was very appreciative of what he had learned from david stern from his tenure. we instantly knew that he wanted to make his own mark in this league. and i know he didn't know that this was coming.

or he'd have to do it in this way. but what a way to start out your tenure. i would think that right now, clippers fans, basketball fans are as euphoric as i am about getting back to basketball. >> was your conversation with commissioner silver after the story broke? >> no. no, this was back during the all-star weekend. >> oh, got you. okay. i was going to ask a follow-up to that. so back to basketball, the process is just beginning, you say. how long -- we really don't have a timetable on this. we heard from commissioner silver saying he's urging this vote as soon as possible. but we really don't have a concrete date thus far. what would satisfy you as far as when this vote should take place? >> what i took from commissioner silver's announcement, and the answering of the questions was, he's ready to move immediately on it. >> but are the owners? >> and i believe that he will. but the owners -- you know what,

when you talk about how personal this was to commissioner silver, i would think that the man that you hire, i'm talking about the owners here, that you're going to be putting a lot of the onus on him to really run this league. and i have to believe, i have to believe when those owners are in that room and they have to make a decision on the ownership of the clippers, as it pertains to sterling, that a lot of that's going to be, you know, self-reflection on where you stand. you've got to take a stand. this is the time for you to do it. and so i would think that the owners would be -- i know i worked for the utah jazz and i know the miller organization. and i can be pretty certain that they are going to be in the corner of commissioner silver. and i would hope that the majority would be like david mentioned a little while ago. >> they just need three-quarters, to force the sale.

thurl, thank you. stand by. jerry stackhouse sitting next to me. most recently with the nets up in brooklyn. 18 years with the nba. focusing back on the players. as you were saying, play a game. this is supposed to be exciting time of basketball. especially for a team who is finally doing pretty good, right? the clippers. what are these players thinking right now? >> well, i think everybody's excited and happy to get back to playing. i think all of the gestures that you saw, turning the shirts inside out, walking to half-court, wearing the black socks, they may still do that to show solidarity. but now it's over. what we wanted to have happen, all that was for adam silver to do what he did today. and i think now we can get back to enjoying the game, enjoying the play-offs, and hopefully the fans and everyone to come out and support the team the way they have in the past. they can make a long run. we would like to see a positive story with the clippers. not that i'm saying i wish they

beat the warriors, but i would love to see them extend their play, and be a really good feel-good story for our league. >> we're not in california. you're not behind closed doors. i'm thinking ahead now to coach rivers talking to his guys, ahead of game five. they've had a lot in their heads beyond basketball the last couple of days. what do you think he says to him in the locker room? >> i think it's back to business now. back to -- i think he will address the fans, or chris paul -- >> publicly addressing the fans. >> to let them know that they appreciate their support. it's going to be crazy in there tonight. you already know it. what happened today, donald sterling, no longer a part of the picture. a lot of fans have been wanting that to happen for a long, long type. for that to finally come to fruition tonight, they'll be excited. i think the team will be excited and it will be a really good game. >> doc will say just play ball. >> do what you do, share the ball and defend.

back to the xs and os now. chris didn't have his best game, but he downplayed it and said it wasn't about anything, but just what happened on the basketball court. now they have to go out and win. they're in a tough spot. they need to get this game or it's over. >> jerry stackhouse, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> we continue our special coverage on cnn, right after this.

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effective immediately, i am

banning mr. sterling for life from any association with the clippers organization or the nba. mr. sterling may not attend any nba games or practices. he may not be present at any clippers facility, and he may not participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team. he will also be barred from attending nba board of governors meetings, or participating in any other league activity. i'm also fining mr. sterling $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the nba constitution. these funds will be donated to organizations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts that will be jointly selected by the nba and

its players association. >> so, that was the commissioner of the nba speaking last hour, as we have been waiting really to know what would happen to the future of the l.a. clippers owner, donald sterling. we're getting tweets from lebron and magic. charles barkley, amazing day for the nba. let's go to l.a., we're a couple of hours away from the big game at home. clippers, golden state warriors, a couple of hours away from that home game. stephanie elam is there for us. stephanie, how is the mood in l.a. now that we know the news? >> reporter: well, that's what we want to see if there's going to be a protest. they were prepared for that out here, brooke. i look around, the road is still blockaded, they're not letting people come through here. it seems the players are happy with this. that's across the nba, which is obviously going to change things here. you can already hear that the players are calling -- that the commissioner is calling for fans to come out tonight and support the teams during the play-off

season. they say these guys playing, they need your support. they need you out there cheering for them. they're saying, look, you got a response within three days since the scandal broke. we were on it. something's happened before this game here. because of that, they're saying, we can now stand behind the commissioner, stand behind these teams and we can play. the interesting thing will be that how will fans show their support for these gentlemen when they take the court tonight. it does seem across the board, take a look at social media and who's tweeting, it's players from all teams. it seems very united on this front. and across races as well. that this is what needed to happen. now we can go back to focusing on basketball. i think for some of us it may be a little hard to do, at least hopefully they will do this. there will be a press conference before the game. yesterday on the call, doc rivers said he was trying to figure out which way was the best way to address the fans tomorrow if this resolution wasn't here. so there may be some sort of address that is made before the game, before it actually starts. we may look for that.

they were already considering it. at the same time here, they want everyone, all the fans to get back to supporting their favorite teams. and kevin johnson calling them the life blood, and that they add texture to this game and they want them there. they're definitely making that plea for them to come out tonight. >> we heard from the nba commissioner, we've heard from the l.a. mayor, we've heard from players, both former and current. stephanie elam, thank you so much. have to assume at some point before the game tonight we will hear from the clippers coach, doc rivers. mel robbins, let me bring you in, your voice in. cnn commentator here. you wrote a strongly worded piece. let me just quote you on our op-ed page. you write this. if the recording is proven to be sterling, and we now know it was, according to the nba commissioner, the nba has a wide-open court and one shot to shatter the glass on this dunk. >> oh, baby. >> wow, yeah. >> well, you know what, brooke, the commissioner just threw an alley-oop to the owners.

and they better take that sucker and shatter the glass. i disagree with some of the reservations that the rest of the panel has expressed. i don't think there is any scenario that you can conceive of where these owners actually keep sterling in the league. number one, the brand and the sponsors have already spoken, and they ran for the hills. number two, there's the fact of inner cha, brooke. when you have this much momentum moving in one direction, there's no way the owners are actually going to step up and say, no way, we're going to keep this guy, that the world wants out of the basketball league. and finally, think about it from a common sense perspectve. here you are in the meeting. are you going to be the one owner or the one owner group that says, you know, forget about what everybody else believes. >> it's a private vote. but as so many people on the panel have noted, things get leaked. >> here's the other thing, brooke, that i think is really

interesting. espn actually has been quoting the bylaws as released in 2005 by one of their sources. and it only takes one owner to initiate the charges against sterling. then once the charges are initiated, sterling has five days to respond, and then ten days later is when they hold this meeting. that's at least under a former contract. now, when i think about this, the other thing that's really interesting is i looked up the ownership structure of the clippers, and the clippers are 100% owned by donald sterling. so unlike a club, say, like the celtics that have three co-owners, where you have other people involved, this is actually a very clear shot to get this guy out. i would be absolutely shocked if these owners decide to keep him as part of their club. >> you're not the only one who would be shocked. it is not a done deal as of yet. they have to have three-quarters majority. yes, it would be behind closed doors. you have to assume some of the votes would be yeas or nays. it's not a done deal as of yet.

what is a done deal as i'm speaking from commissioner silver is that this guy, the longest tenured owner of an nba team, is banned for life from the nba and anything clippers. mel robbins, thank you so much. if you want to read mel's column, go to cnn.com. this tremendous day, beyond basketball here as it pertains to the owner of the l.a. clippers. the sport that the play-off continues toint hourstonight ho away from game five. honestly, i'm pouring everything i have into this place. that's why i got a new windows 2 in 1. it has exactly what i need for half of what i thought i'd pay. and i don't need to be online for it to work. it runs office, so i can do schedules and budgets and even menu changes. but it's fun, too -- with touch, and tons of great apps for stuff like music,

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against l.a. clippers' owner donald sterling opened a range of legal questions. here to answer some of those questions is jeff toobin, our senior legal analyst. hello, sir. let's begin with what we heard from commissioner silver here that the ban for life $2.5 million fine, strongly urging of the nba owners to force the sale, is this all a done deal? when it comes out of the commissioner's mouth? could sterling fight this in court? >> as far as i can tell, it is a done deal. remember, we're not talking about a law enforcement agency here. we're talking about people who have signed a contract together. the owners of the nba sign a contract with the league as a group and with each other, and they agree to certain rules. this contract is not public. parts of it have been leaked. adam silver made references to part of it. obviously, i have not read the full contract.

certainly as i under the contract, sterling, like all of the owners, has agreed that the commissioner has the power to fine him for $2.5 million. has agreed that he is the power to suspend an owner, even for life. rand there and there's a collisiproegs prn of the contract that three-fourths of the owners can force him out. this is all as seen on the service, iron clad. >> let's look at the provisions about the forced sale. what do we know about how that vote would happen, how it would take place? >> the nba owners meet, occasionally. in the real world, as i understand it, the nba like all professional leagues operate on a 80% rule. 20% of the owners have 80% of the power. adam silver has been around this league a long time as david stern's protege. he knows the key owners he has

to speak to that will influence the rest of the group. undoubtedly, as he said in this news conference, he's done that already. my sense is this decision is pre wired. this is not going to be a problem. i couldn't be surprised if donald sterling simply starts selling the team before this humiliating vote of expulsion goes through. this deal, as far as i can tell, is done. i don't know when precisely that the sale will take place. but it sure seems like the sale will take place. >> seems like it's done, though. i talked to jerry stackhouse off and on for the past two hours. he said not so fast. we may not get the three-urt qaaers majority. meantime watch tonight tonight in los angeles. jeff toobin, thanks so much. quick break. back after this. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, like me,

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but the ones we're really focusing on right here, once again, outside of jackson. he these are the ones in the next couple hours are heating up. >> we'll watch for that throughout the evening on cnn. jennifer, thank you all for being with me the last two hours. i'm brooke baldwin, see you tomorrow. "the league" with jake tapper starts now. nearly three quarters of the united states is in the path of deadly tornados. it is coming and has the power to destroy a town in minutes. we'll take you to the eye of the approaching storm. the sports lead, suspended for life. the nba calls the ultimate technical foul on the owner of the los angeles clippers, caught on tape sounding more like a plantation owner tha