It 's time for someone in the NBA to show some backbone . Donald Sterling , the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers , has got to go and he has got to go in a very public fashion . Listen to the audio recording that is alleged to be of his voice spewing vile reproach at his mistress about her associating with black people in public , and taking photos with black people ( Magic Johnson and Matt Kemp , in particular ) . The audio has not been authenticated as Sterling , but he has not denied it . Listen to the entire five minutes of unhinged ranting and you 'll hear a man forbid a woman ( Sterling 's girlfriend , V. Stiviano , TMZ alleges ) from bringing black people to NBA games , as well as some very strange , offensive opinions about `` black Jews '' being treated worse in Israel than `` white Jews . '' By the way , racial discrimination issues have trailed Sterling for years , with the NBA getting red flag after red flag on this guy and doing nothing about it . There are many questions about the legality of the recording and how TMZ got its hands on it ( my money is on Stiviano , who is embroiled in legal troubles with Sterling 's wife , is almost 60 years his junior , and also happens to be of mixed race and part black ) . If the recording is proven to be Sterling , the NBA has a wide open court and one shot to shatter the glass on this dunk . Forget the short suspension paired with `` pressure '' to sell the team -- a la Marge Schott , who in 1999 was forced out as owner of baseball 's Cincinnati Reds after making comments about blacks , Jews and gays . The Players Association 's demand that Sterling be barred from all playoff games this season is n't enough . What the players in the league deserve is for Sterling to be suspended for life and publicly -- and unprecedentedly -- stripped of his franchise rights . If they merely `` suggest '' he sell the team , he 'll just complain that he was set up by a crazy mistress and will make out like a bandit . He bought the team in 1981 for $ 12 million . Forbes recently put the value of the team at $ 575 million . We can admonish Sterling all we want , and there has been plenty of that coming in : from LeBron James ( `` I could n't play for him '' ) to Michael Jordan ( `` sickening '' ) to the President of the United States ( `` incredibly offensive '' ) . But talk is cheap : It 's time for someone to be bold . The players have already missed the opportunity to send the NBA , its owners and its fans a powerful message . Just days after the story broke , the players , most of whom are black , had game four in the league series on Sunday night in Oakland . They showed up and they got shellacked . They found ways to make statements of protest : turning their practice jerseys inside out , piling their warm-ups in the center court and wearing black socks in solidarity with other teams . It was noteworthy , but once again , Sterling got a pass . The players would have done the league , the country and themselves a huge favor if they had just not shown up to the game . With the momentum of this story , and the outrage building , a boycott would have been the principled stance that the league has been missing all these years . The nation would have been 100 % behind the players . The Clippers jerseys would have been reclaimed by the players as a symbol of power , rather than a reminder of its racist owner . But now there will just be more talk . Should fans boycott the games ? Should people not wear the jerseys ? The public , the Clippers fans and the players need a way to show their support for the players and their disgust for Sterling . For now , we wait to see what Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA decide to do . They might as well play to win . As they say in sports , go big or go home .
Mel Robbins : After racist audio , NBA should publicly strip Donald Sterling of franchise rights . She says the audio not yet authenticated , but Sterling trails racist history unchecked by NBA . She says team showed outrage by altering uniforms ; they should have boycotted game instead . Robbins : There will be a lot of talk ; what 's needed is bold action . NBA , go big or go home .