LeBron James might be planning to take his talents off the court if Donald Sterling is still the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers next season. James’ former teammate Roger Mason told reporters that a number of players are thinking about boycotting the league if Sterling isn’t removed.
Mason said on Showtime, “If it’s not handled by … the start of next season, I don’t see how we’re playing basketball. I was just in the locker room with LeBron. At the end of the day, you know we have leaders, we have player reps, we’ve got executive committee members … Leaders of the teams, they’re all saying the same thing: ‘If this man is still in place, we ain’t playing.'”
James, however, hasn’t said anything about a boycott, and seems to be avoiding taking such a staunch position, reports USA Today. On Sunday James told reporters, “At the end of the day, this is going to be a long litigation when it comes to that. This guy who’s owned the team since the ’80s is not going to just give the team up in a day. So we understand it’s going to be long, but we want what’s right.”
Sterling is set to be ousted by the NBA board of governors, however he claims they don’t want him to sell the team. Magic Johnson, who Sterling has disparaged many times during this circus, expressed to Anderson Cooper that he would sacrifice a quick decision in favor of using correct judgement.