. >> in an he is say today online in a was scathing, but also quite funny, kareem abdul jabar noted of the players they're not playing for sterling. they're playing for themselves, the fans, for showing the world that neither basketball nor our american ideals are defined by a few pathetic men or women. players are pretty constrained, aren't they. they can't just refuse to take the court. they're contractually bound. >> that's right. the contracts --the nba buy laws to suspend and find players if they protest. however, there are statutes in place that say if a worker is fined out of a sense in a discriminating environment, they cannot be penalized. it has put the league in a game to echo the previous presenters, it's put the league in the position how do you find a player whose own conscience does not speak on behalf of the situation. >> it's one of those optic moments where major number of the stars are black, and play with white owners. they're making big punish themselves, but it points to one of those moments where the optics of the american sport can be difficult, can't they? >> w

look, he doesn't get upset when kareem abdul jabar was put in the basketball hall of fame or mohamedboxing hall of fame. >> they were not like, go kill an author. >> i don't care he is islamic. i cooperate give a [bleep -- i couldn't give a] bleep [. >> i think what we are not talking about is kiss getting inducted. a lot of people were like really upset for a longtime. i would like to point out to those people that for the last 30 years they were inducted into the lunch box salesman hall of fame and the insane clown possee museum. >> i love kiss. >> do you? figures. >> joanne, what is worse, cat stevens endorsing murder or his horrid, horrid music? it is a tough question. take your time. >> i would poll the table, but i know how y'all feel. i don't agree with this, definitely not. you say if you can separate the music from his religious beliefs, but you can't. he has said that these converting to islam has inspired peaceful mu seek. music. i just don't see how that is possible with all that he has done. >> it is like death to the infidels. he has done great stuff. >> and now he over

kareem abdul jabar, an athlete is exhausted by the moral outrage. the nba legend, and my racket ball partner says this, if we will all be outraged, let's be outraged that we weren't more outraged when his racism was more evident. let's be outraged that private conversations that people in an intimate relationship are publicly played. let's be outraged that the person who did the betraying will probably get a book deal. and some celebrities defend sterling. >> all of those ideas are really beautiful. >> i was thrilled and surprised. >> for me it is much more personal. i get a kick out of him. i just really love spending time with him. >> you don't have to hate so much. >> he and i became close friends. >> he is an awesome guy. he is a great guy. i am putting that out there. >> kind and fun. >> he is so generous. >> really, really special. >> it makes me laugh every time. >> and it is untrue. i don't want to get sued. >> i am going to howard since you are the first person -- this is your first time here and that excites me. what do you make of the pun

kevin johnson, he understands working for billionaire owners, and you saw steve nash as well as kareem abdul jabar. he's very passionate about treating man, woman, treating them equally, no matter your pay skill, gender, it's about being equal and treating everybody fairly. >> again as we point out to our audience who might be joining us right now the verdict has been delivered by the nba, the commissioner of the nba announcing that donald sterling, owner of the l.a. clippers caught up in the vandal of a tape leaked by a woman who is alleged to be his mistress, has been banned for life from the nba. he was fined $2.5 million, the maximum fine that he said that the nba can give, and also suggesting to the teams' other owners that they will vote to force donald sterile to go sell the team. ross has been following this controversy with me here in studio, one thing you can say about the commissioner's decision it leaves very room to question if the league did the most it can do. this will go down in history with other big names banned for life. >> adam silver made a statement. other players banned for

grates like kareem abdul jabar saying that this is bigger than the game of basketball. >> i want to make clear what we just heard today is not 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, and most of all basketball excellence. >> and the focus out here with just a few hours to go before tip off is now on the game. the clippers team taking the court against the golden state warrior just hours from now. the question that everybody is saying will these fans show up, and how will the commissioner's decision lay into that. >> tip off is at 10:30 eastern, if i'm not mistaken. thank you very much. >>> the south is dealing with more severe weather from the same storm system blamed for at least 30 deaths in the last three days. today people from louisiana state surveyed the area after twisters tore through the area. a tornado destroyed the hospital, but everyone inside did survive. >> i was in that building at that time. we felt god's protection around us. t

i was struck by kareem abdul-jabar's article. real power here.ribly wrong with these kinds of statements in the nba. where african-americans make such a great contribution. when sterling had to make the payment for discriminating against tenants. no one worried about the tenants. nobody raised issues whether he should own a team. those tenants don't have the same kind of power. we also have off to keep in mind the issues of power when weep -- we discuss these things. >> that goes to the way people define racial politics such as it is whether people are using race in sort of campaign ad, right? or whether race is a dog whistle? a way to take some one down. that's obviously terrible. and we rightfully condemn it. racial discrimination is not only an issue for black candidates or superstars in the nba. the grinding ongoing sort of jim crow separate justice system is something that the powerless have to deal with on a daily basis. and that are from voting laws as you mention to, to -- felony convictions being -- being, ground for revoking your voting

exec elgin baylor and he said that a southern plantation-type atmosphere, and hall of famer kareem abdul jabar talked about it last night. >> in the plantations, you had men of africa making the money for the cotton growers, and you had the women from africa being sexually exploited by the cotton grow whole time they looked down on the people to be inferiors and mr. sterling has adopted that as the methodology. >> and, so michael, how do we take this and move forward? >> well, as etan, my dear friend said that nobody is should be surprised by the remarks, but nobody should be existed that racism like this exists. just last week when the supreme court justices got rid of affirmative action in the state of michigan, there is not a call for the end of the supreme court justices, as that structure, but there are people in this country from dreamers to dream defenders who are fighting for more compassionate and tolerant and generous america, and we have to believe that these thoughts and the ideals of the racism, and the discrimination that the older people are going to hold on to are going to die