Sterling No More: Donald Sterling Is Losing His Shine

The future for Donald Sterling isn’t getting any brighter; he is losing his shine in business and health wise. Ever since his racists’ comments were made public, Donald Sterling’s life has been in a downward tailspin with no recovery in sight. First he was banned for life by the NBA and fined a record $2.5 million. In May two physicians determined he was mentally incapacitated. 

 The latest in the Donald Sterling saga has him being accused of threatening doctors and his wife’s lawyers. Shelly Sterling had her attorney file a petition in court quoting the alleged threatening remarks. The petition alleged Donald Sterling called Dr. Meril Platzer a liar, cheat, a fraud and that he would see that she loses her medical license. He also said he would sue her too. The second doctor that examined Sterling, Dr. James Spar allegedly received a threatening voicemail too. In a trial next month it will be determined if Donald Sterling is mentally incapacitated and if he should be removed as the administrator of the family trust which actually owns the Clippers. There is a pending deal on the table between Shelly Sterling and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to sell the team for $2 billion. This deal is awaiting approval by the NBA Board of Governors. The NBA called off a hearing and a vote to oust Donald Sterling when news of the potential deal came to light.

 Clearly Donald Sterling is mentally ill and losing it. He should not be allowed to run the day-to-day operations of any business or sports franchise. The sale of the Clippers would be the best thing for the Sterling family, fans and the NBA. As Donald Sterling’s mental health problems increase we will continue to see negative actions by him and hear negative and ignorant things come out of his mouth. What do you think? Feel free to comment.

How Much Is Enough?

Are sports salaries getting out of control, how much is enough and is the athlete worth it? If you are a starting quarterback in the NFL today you expect to be the highest paid player on your team. If you’ve won a Super Bowl you might expect to be not only the highest paid quarterback, but the highest paid player in the league. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick signed a record contract extension with the team. It is a six-year $126 million deal, that’s an average of $21 million a year. This makes him not only the highest paid quarterback, but also the highest paid NFL player right now. What’s so unique about this contract is that $61 million of it is guaranteed, that’s an NFL record. No matter what happens this next season or the next six years, Colin Kaepernick has $61 million in the bank.

Kaepernick was a second round pick out of Nevada in the 2011 NFL Draft. He has taken the 49ers to two straight NFC Championship Games, winning one and one Super Bowl appearance. Kaepernick had a decent 2013 season; he threw 21 touchdowns and passed for 3,197 yards and rushed for 524 yards with four touchdowns. This type of contract is going to be the measuring stick for other so called elite quarterbacks that have contracts coming up for renewal, Cam Newton being one of them. Cam Newton hasn’t won or been to a Super Bowl, but he has been to the playoffs and had a record setting rookie year and he was a first round draft pick, the number one pick overall in the same draft as Kaepernick. Is he worth $126 million?

Here are the three questions I have and I’m sure many others will too. Is Colin Kaepernick or any NFL quarterback or player worth $126 million? Can he lead the 49ers to another Super Bowl, and how much money is enough? His coach Jim Harbaugh certainly thinks he is. Jim Harbaugh says his quarterback is ready for a breakout year.