NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Tuesday that Donald Sterling is banned for life from the Clippers organization. Cheap Kansas City Chiefs Gear . As well, he has been fined $2.5 million. Finally, Silver will recommend to the Board of Governors that Sterling be forced to sell the team. Fine and Expulsion The fine of $2.5 million was not a surprise. The likely range was somewhere between $1 million and $5 million. However, the NBA went farther than expected by banning Sterling for life from the Clippers. That means that Sterling is not only permanently removed from the day-to-day operations of the league, but he cant be part of the franchise in any way. A suspension of 1 to 2 years was initially expected. Banning Sterling for life is a precedent setting punishment and appropriate under the circumstances. The comments were of course despicable and disturbing. As well, the majority of the NBA player population is of color. According to a 2013 report, 76.3 per cent of NBA players are African-American and 80.1 per cent are of color. So when the majority of the league workforce is African-American, the NBA has no choice but to ask as decisively as possible within its legal framework. Forcing the Sale of the Team This is where things get a bit messy. The NBA by-laws allow the league to remove an owner in limited circumstances, including if the team is in financial distress. We saw something similar in baseball when MLB took over the Dodgers when Frank McCourt made a mess of the team. The NBA by-laws, however, are unlikely to provide a reasonable basis for the league to terminate his ownership. Rather, the NBA will likely look to Article 35 of the NBA Constitution, which allows the commissioner to indefinitely suspend owners for "conduct prejudicial or detrimental to the association". The NBA needs three-quarters of owners to agree to the sale. This is broad language and does provide an arguable legal basis to remove Sterling. However, I emphasize "arguable." This language does not unequivocally give the NBA the authority to hand down the most dramatic and substantial of all penalties - forcing an owner to sell. So that means its possible that Sterling could fire back with a lawsuit if forced to sell alleging that the leagues owners have acted unlawfully. That type of lawsuit could be worth $100 million plus for Sterling. Thats why the NBA didnt announce Sterling is being forced to sell; rather they announced they would recommend that he be forced to sell and take it from there. As part of that same lawsuit, Sterling could allege that the NBA doesnt have the authority to ban him for life, and that the penalty is disproportionately high. Not only does Sterling have a history of racially insensitive comments, he also has a history of suing the NBA. After acquiring the San Diego Clippers in 1981, Sterling moved the team to Los Angeles without the leagues consent in 1984. David Stern, Commissioner of the NBA at the time, fined Sterling $25 million. What did Sterling do in response? He sued the NBA for $100 million. The fine was later reduced to $6 million. So depending on how Sterling takes Tuesdays news, this may not be done. Discount Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys . Lynchs attorney, Ivan Golde, told The Associated Press on Thursday of the plea deal that was reached with the Alameda County District Attorney Office. The plea will be formally entered in court in Oakland, Calif. Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys China . Leave it to Matt Niskanen, the newly proclaimed Eddie Haskell of the Washington Capitals. http://www.cheapchiefs.com/ . Austin does not believe the game-time temperature is going to be an advantage for either side heading into the Grey Cup. "We dont think about (the cold)," said Austin. "Im not even sure how you would determine an advantage.In some ways, it feels like the Ottawa Senators have cornered the market on messy departures. Or at least the awkward ones. First there was Alexei Yashin sulking his way out of town in the summer of 2001. Then just prior to the start of the 2005-06 season, Marian Hossa signed a contract extension with the team - only to be dealt hours later to the Atlanta Thrashers (In hindsight, perhaps Hossa should have been suspicious of John Mucklers evil laugh as his pen hit the paper). The next summer, Zdeno Chara up and left as a free agent, not leaving an ounce of return for his massive 6-foot-9 frame. There was also the buyout of Ray Emery just 12 months after he backstopped the club to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in modern franchise history. Dany Heatleys departure the following summer was easily the most contentious and controversial in franchise history. But that exit may have been trumped when Daniel Alfredsson abruptly left town in the summer of 2013 after contract talks reached a stalemate. So, all of this brings us to Jason Spezzas decision to ask for a trade last spring. On the surface, its easy to lump Spezza in with some of the other controversial exits from this city. After all, he was the captain of the team for less than a calendar year when he asked Bryan Murray to be traded to another organization. However, with Spezza returning to Ottawa tonight, there isnt that sense of pent-up frustration and anger from the fan base that we saw when Heatley came back to town. Or even the swirling mixed emotions when Alfredsson rolled back in wearing a Red Wings jersey for the first time. Those departures were sudden and shocking - like a cold slap in the face. But with Spezza, we could all see the writing on the wall for months - if not years. And so, were all sort of looking at each other with the same question: Whats the reception going to be for Spezza tonight? The reason why there might be an emotional disconnect is that the Spezza departure actually felt like a mutual decision. As Gwyneth Paltrow might say, there was a conscious uncoupling between the two parties. Even Spezzas most faithful supporters would agree that it was probably best for both parties for him to move on. He spent more than a decade with this organization and as he pointed out to us Wednesday, when you are the No. 1 centre on a team for that long and you dont win a Stanley Cup, there are going to be questions. In the case of his other linemates - Heatley and Alfredsson - we were left unfulfilled with the public explanations for their departures. So conspiracy theories started to pop up at every corner. Most of these were so ridiculous that they could not be published on a reputable website, but in the absence of a definitive explanation, these rumours ruled the day. Thankfully, we were spared that same script of gossip and innuendo with Spezza because his reasons for wanting to leave town actuually seemed believable. Authentic Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys. And it also felt like it was in the clubs best interests to move on from him as well. There will be some people who boo Jason Spezza tonight because they felt like he turned his back on the organization and the city while he was the captain of the team. But as Spezza explained to me Wednesday, he understood that asking for a trade while wearing the captains C was going to create a stir. Its something I took very seriously, being the captain - especially on a Canadian team and somewhere I had been for a long time. So I was disappointed with how my one year as captain went, but thats hockey and you learn from it. I didnt just wake up one day and decided I wanted to ask for a trade. It was something I felt was necessary to move on in my career and kind of start another chapter. It definitely wasnt an easy decision, Spezza said. Perhaps the easier decision for Spezza would have been to keep his mouth shut and stay in Ottawa until his contract ran out at the end of this 2014-15 season. But then he would have been painted as the villain who left town and gave his organization nothing in return for him. At least by taking this route, Spezza allowed the organization to get a pair of prospects including one - Nick Paul - who projects out to be an NHL player in the future and a second-round draft pick. That return is certainly better than the alternative of Spezza simply walking away as a free agent this summer. And Spezza is also well aware of the narrative going around that he couldnt stand the heat of playing in a Canadian market. He shrugged off that suggestion Wednesday, saying that he never felt like the constant media scrutiny was the catalyst for his decision to leave town. Everybody is going to have their opinion and spin it however they want. But everybody who knows me and has been around me knows thats not why I asked to be moved, Spezza said. I think too much gets made that I just wanted to get out of the spotlight because my whole life Ive been in it. But I just felt it was necessary to move on to another organization and try things a different way. My goal is to win the Cup and I have to try it a different way. People will perceive it however they want, but I dont think Ive ever been afraid to stand in front of a microphone and be accountable for my play. Spezza told me that hes going to miss skating on the canal here in Ottawa, something he made sure he did with his family each winter. On Wednesday, he was planning to drop by his favourite Italian restaurant - Capones - for a bite to eat. And he even went to his old barber downtown for a familiar haircut. In coming back to Ottawa, Jason Spezza didnt need to slink around town with his hat pulled down low. This wasnt a messy breakup or a divorce that has cast one side as the bad guy. Instead, this was a mutual decision to leave and by all accounts, both sides are happy. 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