off battle rap
TALK THAT ISH: THE RAPID DESCENSION OF DONALD STERLING
By Cheron Hall
Donald Sterling gave many of us a reality check this
week when a taped conversation regarding his racist
views was exposed to the world. The wealthy CEO
and owner of the NBA Clippers basketball franchise
has since been banned and was slapped with the
heaviest of penalties — removal from the NBA as a
whole.
While his views on race have affected many players
and fans, his business tactics also cause us to delve
deeper inward, into the levels of professionalism
shown in other sports, like battle rap. Many are
beginning to ponder whether or not CEOs and league
owners have the best interest of the people who invest
in their brands at heart. From the fans to the battlers
to the writers and more, accountability gets lost in the
mix due to the nature of the sport. — Cheron Hall
Logic
President, iBattle
I feel that any and all forms of racism, sexism,
homophobia and prejudice to anyone is wrong and
should not be tolerated. On the other hand — an old
rich white man saying racist s**t is expected and the
media promotes it as shocking. I’m not happy about
how these issues get top billing over the budget crisis,
federal corruption or any other news that actually
matters. Not to sound that way about it, but I think
media coverage over does it. We live in a time when
CNN reports s**t — and their source is TMZ? A
tabloid, gossip source? Sheesh. Donald Sterling is
wrong, but not shocking. He should of got more than
just banned, in my opinion.
Real Deal
Battle Rapper
I think the obvious is that Sterling is a racist.
However, I think he’s an even bigger idiot. How can
16
you own an NBA team and get caught by a mistress
who’s clearly a money-grubbing leech? I will say a
few things: believe me, he’s not the only old white
guy in the NBA who has fired off racist remarks.
Secondly, I think it’s unfortunate this took away from
an amazing first round of playoffs; that’s the media
for you though. Racism from an old white jack-off I
guess is a much juicer subject than the best first round
of NBA playoffs ever. Also, he can’t be given a pass for
being an old-fashioned racist. He is an NBA owner
and it’s 2014.
Drect Williams
Founder, GrindTime & CEO of Rapgrid.com
My original reaction to the controversial recording
of Donald Sterling was that he was entitled to an
opinion and his punishment may have been a little
too harsh, especially since recording a conversations
and selling it to a news outlet seems like a huge
infringement on one’s rights. After, hearing that he
mistreated Elgin Baylor — an NBA Hall of Famer
and former Clippers GM. It started to seem as though
he may have been at this for a while.
It’s been proven that Sterling fires certain members
of his staff in the offseason and attempts to re-hire
them for less money when the next season begins,
if they cannot find work elsewhere. The tip of the
iceberg was finding out that Sterling has been sued as
a landlord in the past for discriminating against his
tenants. It’s been made clear that the NBA has been
trying to get rid of Donald Sterling for quite some
time — take one look at his track record and you
can see why. The punishment may not have fit just
one crime, but a repeat offender must be taken care
of. Imagine if the Warriors walked off the floor, as
originally planned before Game 5. Crazy!