Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 at 2:15 pm  |  86 responses

More from Elgin Baylor on Donald Sterling’s Racist Ways

It’s been pretty well established that Donald Sterling is a less-than-awesome human being, and Elgin Baylor’s latest court testimony against his old boss does nothing to change that fact. From the LA Times: “Hall of Famer and former Clippers executive Elgin Baylor  offered several instances of what he called team owner Donald Sterling’s ‘plantation mentality’ and alleged that Sterling once rejected a coaching candidate because of race, according to court documents obtained by The Times. Baylor’s contentions came under questioning from Sterling’s lawyer in a deposition in Baylor’s lawyer’s office nearly a year ago. They were contained in voluminous court documents supporting motions for summary judgment from the Clippers and the NBA … In court papers, Baylor said that Jim Brewer, then an assistant with the Clippers, wanted the chance to interview for the head coaching job after Bill Fitch was dismissed following the 1997-98 season. ‘I believe he [Sterling] was a little reluctant at first but I said, ‘We owe him that courtesy.’ So we go there and we sit down and Brewer starts talking about his qualifications, that he believed he could do the job of being the head coach,’ Baylor said in court papers. ‘And when he finished, Donald said something that was very shocking to me. He said, ‘Personally, I would like to have a white Southern coach coaching poor black players. And I was shocked. And he looked at me and said, ‘Do you think that’s a racist statement?’ I said, ‘Absolutely. That’s plantation mentality.’”

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  • BkNy

    onlyclipsfanonslam: Listen up, little boy. Baylor’s lawsuit is based age and racial discrimination. He alleges that his pay was significantly lower than that of certain white employees in the organization, namely Mike Dunleavy. Now try to keep up, you seem a bit slow being a clips fan and all. Bascially it appears that he is trying to prove the race based discrimination by comparing his PAY to that of certain high-profile white employees. Do you get that? Do you get that theoretically speaking you don’t have to say racist things to an employee in order to discriminate against them concerning their compensation? Whether you think his case is strong or weak in that department is irrelevant. Now go play somewhere and let the grown-ups talk, ok?

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    There are two reasons Baylor kept working.
    1. He thought he could change things and help folks out from the inside. People say he was really kind and a cool person, so maybe he, like many black people of his generation, thought it was better to get a foot in the door then wait outside.
    2. He knew Sterling was racist and didn’t care as lont as he was getting paid.
    Those are the only two reasons I can really see, anybody else got some ideas?

  • Blackphantom

    wait a minute, philosopher you’re black aren’t you?

  • The Philosopher

    @Blackphantom:
    I have never disclosed my race up here.

  • Blackphantom

    why not?

  • unrel

    Eboy 3:56/58.. pretty much sums it up about Philosopher’s statement that has upset a few people.. i don’t think he meant it to be racist or ‘blackface’ but it doesn’t read well.. that’s all.. but in the context of the story.. not sure if Phil’s opinion holds.. i don’t think EB is upset only because he’s ‘out the house’ now.. how many of us have complained more.. after we lose a job.. than during it?.. and the fact that he stuck around regardless of his racist employer doesn’t make EB just as bad.. according to this story.. he spoke out against his employer.. losing everything (quitting, etc) isn’t the only way to make a statement and stand up against ‘the man’.. because sometimes.. doing that.. just means you’re out a job..

  • Blackphantom

    Why not? This is a civilized site(I hope so). You aren’t scared or anything are you?

  • The Philosopher

    It may prompt a person or persons to think that I may have a biased view toward one way, or another way.

  • JTaylor21

    AllenP, that’s what I was getting at all along; Baylor continued to work for a racist because the money was good and no other team would hire him as a GM based on the clips incompetence under him. Also isn’t his claim of a white coach making more than him even though they were both bad at their respective job a good argument for Sterling being a racist, there’s NO way in hell that someone with baylor’s basketball background should be making less money than Mike Freaking Dunleavy. If I was Baylor’s attorney I would use that and the DOJ case as focal points of the case.

  • BkNy

    I think at best he was probably uneasy with Sterling’s racism. The checks kept coming. It may sound like I’m being pessimistic concerning Baylor but when I think about this situation I keep his age in mind. Some in his generation, because of what they were used to, wouldn’t view it exactly our way.

  • Blackphantom

    Oh, I understand. No one that isn’t racist wants to be called racist.

  • The Philosopher

    unrel:
    Respect.

  • onlyclipsfanonslam

    @BKNY are you that blind. IT IS A WRONGFUL TERMINATION SUIT. This has nothing to do with what he was getting paid, or if he was underpaid because of his race. Thanks for trying to sound smart. Elgin is claiming he was terminated because Sterling had racists beliefs that Elgin couldn’t get the job done. In a “he said/he said” case, it is counter intuitive to say one acted racist toward a victim, when the victim admits there were no past racist actions the defendant displayed towards the victim. Again, you are informed, again, eat crow.

  • Mr. Robinson

    Philo, you’re a fool. LOLOl

  • BkNy

    onlyclipsfanonslam: The above claims are Elgin Baylor’s, genius, not mine. HE MADE THOSE CLAIMS. You just posted your opinion of the damn case. Nobody pays you to think and analyze (and if they do you’re lucky to have found that idiot). The “victim” claims that the acts of racism included pay discrimination. Again, since you are too dense to comprehend anything after having been informed only once, pay discrimination in and of itself is an act of racism in this case. I’m sure Baylor’s lawyer is a hellava lot more informed than you are as to how that claim can help his case if proven. Now kick rocks little guy.

  • BkNy

    Also, when ppl phrases such as “you think you’re smart” or “you are trying to sound smart” it’s usually because they have insecurities when it comes to their own level of intelligence. Based on your posts your insecurities are valid. :)

  • onlyclipsfanonslam

    @BKNY you are the dense one it is a WRONGFUL TERMINATION. Now moving on, Baylor himself said, on the stand no less as it was taken from the court records, that he felt Sterling did not pay him less because of race. Now go ahead and say something in retort because you have said nothing that falsifies anything I have said. I am giving out the facts, I bet you haven’t even read the article this story is stemming from. Yes, no one pays me for my opinions, but at least I know the facts not just acting like I know.

  • BkNy

    onlyclipsfanonslam: Look Idiot, I’m not sure which article you were reading but Baylor NEVER stated that he felt he was paid less because of his race. The question was did Sterling ever TELL HIM he was paid less because of his race. Baylor replied no. Now, changing a word or two to fit your argument in and of itself is reason enough to dismiss your opinions. It is a FACT that Baylor made the claims I listed. It is a FACT that you are a fool who is either a liar or simply fails miserably at reading comprehension. Twisting words in the article only makes you look like a dumbass.

  • BkNy

    Correction: The first sentence was supposed to read: Baylor NEVER stated that he did not feel Sterling paid him less because of his race.

  • BkNy

    Correction: the first sentence was supposed to read Baylor NEVER stated that he did not feel he was being paid less because of his race.

  • http://www.need4sheed.com Tarzan Cooper

    Philosopher is a cracker

  • Blackphantom

    c’mon Tarzan chill with the racism, the racist term crack isn’t even offensive

  • Blackphantom

    *”cracker”

  • http://slamonline.com Ugh

    To all the people asking why he kept working for him – Elgin already explained that. Maybe instead of postulating your idiot theories you should just stop typing and do some reading. It’ll do you good and make you look less stupid.

  • MikeC.

    I’m not plugged into any inside Clippers dealings or anything, but I think Elgin was underpaid because that’s what Sterling offered him, and he accepted it. The poor performance of the teams kept Elgin from having a successful track record that he could use to leverage a better contract from another team. The Clippers have stunk for decades, and Elgin was the man that built them. He did a piss poor job building those teams, and it kept him from getting a better job. I’ve read in the past that this suit is more about age discrimination than race, despite Sterling’s checkered history and this particular article’s emphasis. Race is part of it, but the focal point of the lawsuit was age discrimination awhile back, anyway. Is it a surprise that Sterling underpaid Elgin? Not at all. The Clippers are the team that sometimes has to sign players at the end of training camp in order to get their payroll up to the league minimum. Sterling is cheap in every area imaginable.

  • PapaBearATL

    You can’t have 3 (successful) seasons in 22yrs, then pull the race card when you get canned. Especially when you depose that nothing was racially done to you by Sterling or the Clippers franchise. I think the Clippers organization has been very good to Elgin Baylor, most GM’s would not have lasted that long with his record of success or lack thereof. Is Sterling a rascist or racially insensitive, probably. Did he ever take that position with Elgin Baylor? “Not that I recall” is the response, everything else is moot.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    PapaBearATL is making a whole lot of sense right now.. Although heck, if Sterling gets punished the pr!ck deserves it.

  • PapaBearATL

    GM’s don’t answer ads in the paper. He was offered a job, he accepted the job at that pay. If you are the owner and your GM is not winning consistently, would you give him/her a raise? Aren’t raises usually performance based, whether its a nickle an hour at McD’s or a GM contract? We, as a society, need to be held accountable for our actions and quit pushing the responsibilty off on other people even if the other people suck as an owner and person in general. Litigation like this lessen’s the moral and ethical impact of people actually affected by age and race discrimination.

  • http://www.lebronswitness.wordpress.com lebronswitness

    this is a weird ass story haha

  • MikeC.

    Things get awfully quiet around here when there’s a good game on TV. It’s almost as if we all spend our days on here talking ish and avoiding work. Sound familiar to anyone?

  • hushabomb

    If there was any reason for the Commish to cut back teams, here’s a prime example why. They are the biggest joke in the league and with 1) A racist owner 2) Bad free agents (B Diddy) 3) Nearly 20 plus years of mediocrity.

    David Stern, rid this cancer out of your league and disperse the players. And never let Donald Sterling own another team ever again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://bulls.com airs

    peace and love, everyone!

  • Rikson

    Pay discrimination..?! Wtf! Why take the job with that “low” wage in the first place..?this really stinks!

  • http://theghostofroyhobbs.blogspot.com Mo Charlo

    In Donald Sterling’s future memoirs, he will refer to Baylor calling him a racist as “the low point of his presidency.”

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Ugh
    Just because somebody said something doesn’t make it true.
    OnlyClipsFan
    Yeah, bKNy is right, you made some stuff up to suit your argument. The lawyer asked Baylor if Sterling ever made a racist remark to him, or if Sterling ever TOLD him that he was paid less because he’s black. Big difference from asking if Baylor thought he was paid less because he was black. A massive HUGE difference.

  • Andrew

    Of course, none of what you cite was “court testimony”. It was a press conference where he reiterated his lawyers allegations.

    These allegations were so weak that he had to drop the race discrimination claim on the eve of trial before the judge threw it out.

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