--- description: Analysis of NBA commissioner Adam Silver's decision to expel Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling because of his racist comments. title: VIDEO: Breaking Down Donald Sterling's Lifetime Ban image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e1f65f606fdb06/69868cfae53aba07804d2531/donald-sterling-nba-clippers.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [donald sterling](/tag/donald-sterling/) ## donald sterling Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Breaking Down Donald Sterling's Lifetime Ban by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2014 9:34 PM CUT  Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling attends a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 10, 2014. Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling attends a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 10, 2014.Kirby Lee—USA TODAY Sports by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2014 9:34 PM CUT LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling today received a lifetime ban from the NBA as well as a record $2.5 million dollar fine for racist statements that [emerged](http://time.com/78189/donald-sterling-racist-recording/ "undefined") last week. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver [announced the punishment Tuesday](http://time.com/81170/donald-sterling-los-angeles-clippers-nba-adam-silver/ "undefined") at a news conference in New York. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/81751/donald-sterling-lifetime-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/81751/donald-sterling-lifetime-ban/"},"headline":"Breaking Down Donald Sterling's Lifetime Ban","datePublished":"2014-04-29T21:34:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:34:07.839Z","description":"Sports Illustrated's Maggie Gray and TIME's Sean Gregory analyze NBA commIssioner Adam Silver's decision to expel Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling because of his racist comments.","url":"https://time.com/81751/donald-sterling-lifetime-ban/","keywords":["donald sterling","NBA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e1f65f606fdb06/69868cfae53aba07804d2531/donald-sterling-nba-clippers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e1f65f606fdb06/69868cfae53aba07804d2531/donald-sterling-nba-clippers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Sterling NBA Clippers","caption":"Donald Sterling NBA Clippers","creditText":"Kirby Lee—USA TODAY Sports","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-sterling/","name":"donald sterling"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/81751/donald-sterling-lifetime-ban/","name":"Breaking Down Donald Sterling's Lifetime Ban"}}]}] ```