[quote=CA renter]
Whatever you think of his personal beliefs — and remember where he’s coming from, generationally and demographically — the point is that people have a right to their own thoughts and opinions,[/quote]
Full stop. Yes they do. That includes both the public, the fans, and the other NBA owners.
[quote=CA renter]and they have the right to not be recorded (especially without consent) and not have these very personal conversations broadcast to the public in ways that can cause serious damage to them and their business.[/quote]
Generally, I agree. But apparently that’s not what happened here. Sterling knew his conversations were being recorded. And at least at this point, there’s no evidence that the woman in the conversations released those recordings.
And beyond that, irrespective of how the information became public, would you do business with a bald-faced racist? Is that something you’d want to know? Or would you argue that you should never have been made privy to the information, and you therefore have no problem doing business with that racist? Remember, he’s not the nameless owner of a business, he’s the very public owner.
[quote=CA renter]Based only on the contents of the recorded conversation, it certainly sounds to me like she was setting him up.[/quote]
I have listened to the conversation, and I do think that there was more to the relationship than a simple employer/employee relationship. She has described their relationship as a father/daughter relationship. (I strongly suspect he wanted something else, but reluctantly acknowledged that was never going to happen. That may just be the dirty old man in me talking.) It doesn’t sound to me like she was setting him up. She boldly called him on his racism.
