The NBA recently hired noted diversity and sports expert Dr. Richard Lapchick to aid the league as an independent expert in its handling of the Donald Sterling issue.
League officials entrusted Lapchick, director of the esteemed University of Central Florida's Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport, "to analyze the effect that Sterling's words had on the league" and his findings were part of the charges the league ultimately handed down on the longtime L.A. Clippers owner.
Donald Sterling turns Clippers over to wife
Earlier this month, commissioner Adam Silver announced the league was imposing a lifetime ban on Sterling and slapping him with a maximum $2.5 million fine after video of him admonishing a girlfriend "not to bring blacks to my games" was made public.
According to ESPN, it was largely based on Lapchick's findings that the league concluded Sterling's hate-filled rant had contributed to "significantly undermining the NBA's efforts to promote diversity and inclusion" and proved to be "damaging (to) the NBA's relationship with its fans."
Adam Silver bans Donald Sterling for life
Sterling has until May 27 to formally respond to the league's action or face a league-wide vote of owners on June 3 that could strip him of his ownership. In recent days, attorneys for the 81-year-old real estate mogul announced he has turned over majority ownership of the team to his estranged wife Shelly in hopes she might be able to broker a sale.
ESPN also reports Shelly Sterling is now considering up to six different offers from potential buyers deemed to be serious and viable options.
Lapchick's institute is also well-known for its annual publication of racial and gender reports cards of all the major sports. The NBA received a grade of A+ for its racial hiring practices last year, a time when the institute reported 35.7 percent of all employees in the league office were people of color.
In a league where more than 76 percent of the players were black in 2012-13, the league also received high marks based on 43 percent of its coaches being African-American.
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