July 14, 2010 6:32 AM

Things were SO much easier when they knew their place and kept to it, Part Deux

“I strongly disagree with Rev. Jesse Jackson’s recent comments and we are not going to engage in any related discussion on it,” Gilbert said. “Going forward, we’re very excited about the Cavaliers and the positive future of our region.”…. Gilbert is attending the owners’ meetings in Las Vegas, where Stern fined him $100,000 for the “inappropriate” comments about James…. “He was completely correct in expressing his disappointment,” Stern said, adding that Gilbert’s statement and the sentiments he expressed in a follow-up interview with the AP were “a little bit extreme.”

Personally, I think it’s about time for this issue to be put to bed. People in Cleveland need to begin getting over themselves and come to grips with the reality that they live in Cleveland. That’s just the sad reality, and LeBron James made a business decision in part because he chose living in Miami over living Cleveland. Who among us wouldn’t make the same decision?

The truly disappointing, and frankly disturbing, aspect of this story was Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s childishly immature letter to Cavaliers fans, in which he accused James of disloyalty and betrayal. From where I sit, it was hard not to see racism in Gilbert’s language, which was exactly what Jesse Jackson was reacting to in asking the NBA to discipline Gilbert. On Monday, NBA Commisioner David Stern did come down on GIlbert, fining him $100,000. In calling Gilbert’s letter “a little bit extreme”, I think Stern missed a real opportunity to make it clear that language that can easily be interepreted as racist will not be tolerated. I also think the $100,000 fine is little more than your basic slap on the wrist. Nonetheless, Stern did punish Gilbert, and while I might quibble with the details. I’m going to look at it as a positive step. Gilbert was WAY out of line, and Stern acknowledged that. To his credit, James has largely stayed out of the argument. Perhaps he was smart enough to let Gilbert hang hoist himself on his own petard.

Of course, the bottom line here is that ultimately all this silliness is going to do good things for the league’s bottom line. While there are legitimate issues in play here, the reality is that the rich will continue to get richer, and we now have a built-in storyline guaranteed to be with us throughout next season. That kind of excitement can only be a good thing for the NBA and its fans. Too bad October is still three months off, eh?

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 14, 2010 6:32 AM.

Megyn Kelly knows a good "scary Black man" story when she hears it was the previous entry in this blog.

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