Today's Scripture Reading (August 2, 2026): Ezekiel 9
It was a little
disappointing that the Donald Sterling saga hijacked the first round of the
2014 NBA playoffs. I love the playoffs in almost every sport, but amid all the
excitement of the 2014 NBA playoffs, our attention was interrupted by the racism
charge against Sterling. At the time, Sterling was the longtime owner of the
Los Angeles Clippers, and he had been caught talking to his mistress about a
picture she had posted on Instagram of herself with Lakers great Magic Johnson.
TMZ released the conversation.
It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast
that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?" --
"You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in,
you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that
(presumably her social media accounts) ... and not to bring them to my
games." -- "I'm just
saying, in your lousy (explicative) Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself
with, walking with black people." -- "...Don't put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have
to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games."
Suddenly, there seemed to
be more conversation about Sterling than about the great basketball being
played on the court.
As a result of the
recording, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was forced to intervene. After
reviewing the evidence and deciding that the charges were true, which is not
all that surprising given Sterling's checkered past on race relations, Silver
announced that he had arrived at the punishment. This punishment would come in
three steps. First, Sterling was banned from basketball for life. He was no
longer to be involved in any basketball decisions or negotiations, or have
anything to do with the team he owned: the Los Angeles Clippers. Second,
Sterling was fined $2.5 million, the maximum allowable fine under the NBA
constitution. All the money would go to charities that address racial issues.
And the last part of the punishment is that Silver says that he will do
everything in his power to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. Sterling's
forced sale of the Clippers was an action that Mark Cuban, then-owner of the
Dallas Mavericks, called justified but "a slippery slope." In the
end, the Clippers were sold to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2
billion.
Silver's action was proper
and quick. Regardless of how difficult it might have been to enforce the
punishment, it has received favorable reviews from players, ex-players, and
fans alike. Silver recognized that something needed to be done and that it
could not wait for a meeting. Silver moved and received praise from those in
the basketball world for taking action quickly. There is truly no room for this
kind of racist attitude in basketball, or any other place in our world.
The vision of Ezekiel
continues. God has presented the evidence to Ezekiel, and now he is calling for
"those who are appointed to execute judgment." It is an interesting phrase
because "those who are appointed to execute judgment" are the
Babylonians. Ezekiel is admitting that his removal from his home was lawful and
at the instruction of the God that he served. Not only was Ezekiel's removal
part of God's plan, but the judgment also wasn't finished, not yet. Babylon
would continue to carry out the punishment on Judah, destroying both Jerusalem
and the Temple within her walls, all with the approval of God. The call for
judgment is quick. What begins on this day of Ezekiel's life will also take
time to be fulfilled, but there is no doubt it will be. And in the end, the
world would be a better place because of what God was doing on this day. All of
this must be done if God really wants to bring his blessing upon his people at
some moment in the future.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 10
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