Sterling's record no longer ignored: Other views

Carolyn Edgar, Salon: "Donald Sterling ... is not simply a harmless old bigot speaking nonsense in the heat of a lovers' quarrel with his much-younger mistress. Sterling's well-documented racism was largely ignored by the NBA and the mainstream media for years."

TommyTomlinson, Forbes: "Maybe Sterling likes the idea of owning players. NBA players aren't slaves, of course — that's insulting to the people who actually lived through it. But maybe Sterling, as an NBA owner, can live out his own little plantation fantasy. He picks players out of the draft pool, and they have to come work for him. The ones he doesn't like, he can put on the trading block. It's the kind of thing a twisted mind could get off on."

Matt Berman, National Journal: "It's been an unbelievable week for the NBA. The first week of the playoffs saw seven consecutive games within one possession of victory in the last 10 seconds. ... But for all of those amazing things, everything that should've added up to the best week for the league in recent memory has been overshadowed by an 80-year-old, seemingly repugnant man."

Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times: "Maybe there's just not a whole lot that's funny about two creepy old white guys getting caught on tape with their racist pants down. Unless you count the fact that one of them, (L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling) apparently, was about to get a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP — now that' s funny — while the other (Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy) is a hero to conservative wingnuts for defending the Constitution of a government he claims does not even exist."

Donald Trump, on Fox & Friends: "It's terrible. He got set up by a very, very bad girlfriend. ... She's called the girlfriend from hell. But, you know, what he said was terrible and despicable, and very strong action is going to be taken."

President Obama: "I have confidence that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver — a good man — will address this. Obviously, the NBA is a league that is beloved by fans all across the country. It's got an awful lot of African-American players. It's steeped in African-American culture. And I suspect that the NBA is going to be deeply concerned in resolving this."