Dave Chappelle thinks Donald Sterling should have been allowed to keep the Clippers

Comedian Dave Chappelle’s most-recent comeback was highlighted by a well-received show at New York’s legendary Radio City Music Hall. In that performance, Chappelle dug in on former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who two months prior to the gig was revealed to have said some incredibly stupid things to his girlfriend. That girlfriend recorded the conversations illegally and released them to a tabloid website, sparking the NBA’s embarrassment, Sterling’s banishment, and the eventual selling of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.

In a freshly-released interview with Gentleman’s Quarterly, however, Chappelle sides with the former owner’s attempts to keep his team, falling prey to the same line of thinking that too many Donald Sterling supporters often attempt to cite properly. From GQ:

What'd you think of the aftermath?

Ultimately, I don't think he should have lost his team. I don't like the idea that someone could record a secret conversation and that a person could lose their assets from that, even though I think what he said was awful. When you think about the intimacy of a situation, like, can a man just chill with his mistress in peace?* I just don't like when things like that happen, because if they take s--t away for things that people say that are objectionable, I may not have anything in a few years. Granted, I don't think I say s--t like "Stop bringing white people to my game."

We’ve all done dumb things.

We’ve all said stupid things.

We’re all protected, in this country, with rights that allow us to say stupid things.

Sterling’s conversations we’re recorded illegally.

Sterling’s girlfriend was after money and fame, and little else, when she recorded these conversations.

We’re not protected from our bosses firing us if we say stupid thing, even if we have the right to say stupid things.

The NBA, a private league, has the right to oust a weak link if that link is costing them money.

Donald Sterling signed off on this legally-binding NBA right repeatedly in the three decades that he owned an NBA team.

How much simpler can we put this?

We contain multitudes, and it’s just fine for us to think that what Donald Sterling said was abhorrent, but also retch at the idea that illegally-recorded conversations would cost us something we own. That’s just fine, but Donald Sterling’s right to own a basketball team working in a private league is not protected by the United States Bill of Rights.

To paraphrase Dave Chappelle, Donald Sterling has every right to chill with his mistress in peace, and if he felt the need to take legal or civil action against his girlfriend for taping those conversations, he would have a fair case on his hands to chase down. The Clippers franchise may have been his asset, but it was and is part of a larger group that wields authority that Sterling himself agreed to – this is why one of California’s most litigious men (and that’s saying something) was quickly swished out of court in his attempts to save his ownership after just a few annoying weeks.

The NBA didn’t force Donald Sterling to sell his team because he was racist, because the Adam Silver and his predecessor David Stern all knew about his discriminatory actions years ago. They forced him to sell because he was bad for their bottom line. Dave Chappelle, the man who once turned down $40 million from Viacom in return for sustaining his TV show, isn’t as concerned about chasing down the almighty dollar. We miss that show, but you can’t help but respect him for that.

The NBA is markedly concerned with chasing down the almighty dollar, however, and that’s why Donald Sterling isn’t in the NBA anymore.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops

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