The NBA owners are not going to let this thing fester. Thursday afternoon, their advisory committee voted unanimously to move very quickly on the Donald Sterling controversy and try to oust the Clippers owner. They plan to meet again next week.
It's do or die for the Warriors in Game 6 so they are trying to focus and distance themselves from the Sterling controversy.
At practice Thursday the Clippers were still dealing with questions. Coach Doc Rivers says the distraction has hurt, but his guys are moving on.
When asked what he has told his players with this thing swirling around, Rivers said, "Not a thing. I think the players as a group, not just ours, I think Golden State and the entire player union were phenomenal through this whole thing."
The ball is now out of their hands. Earlier this week NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the unprecedented move of banning Sterling from life and wants him to sell the Clippers. A forced sale will take a two-thirds vote or 23 of the 30 owners.
Clippers guard Jamal Crawford was asked what he thought would happen if Sterling fights the sale. He responded, "That's so far away from us now. We're still fresh off of having this closure."
Michael Goldman is a professor in the sports management department at the University of San Francisco. He believes the global brand of the NBA is at risk without new ownership for the Clippers.
"I think you'll see everyone towing the line. I think you'll see everyone following the same kind of message that Commissioner Silver has set out, but perhaps some of the negotiations and how exactly the deal is structured, perhaps some of that we won't see," said Goldman.
Goldman says the incident has created an opportunity for a new era in the sport.
"Sports is a business and should be run by professional, ethical business people," said Goldman.
The NBA Advisory Committee plans to reconvene net week. So far Sterling has not said if he will actually agree to go willingly.
