Anti-Dummy League

Following on the heels of the controversial forced sale of the National Basketball Association’s San Diego Clippers this summer comes yet another Jewish owner scandal.  Due to the leaked racist rants of now former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, the NBA’s Adam Silver imposed a lifetime ban on Sterling and set the wheels into motion that allowed Sterling’s wife to sell the team for $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. We thought that would be the last of it.

But , apparently,  the embarrassment of one Jewish owner’s racist rant wasn’t enough because on Sunday in two separate press conferences, both controlling Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson and Silver, who is also Jewish, announced that Levenson’s ownership was being terminated over a racially insensitive email he admitted sending two years ago.

Levenson was among the most vocal of Sterling’s critics at the height of the controversy, so it is especially embarrassing that he have to own up to the misdeed.

The trend, though, is disturbing. That Silver made short work of the transitioning of the team is good, but there is little solace to be taken when one considers the black marks that have sullied what were previously thought to be progressive and fair Jewish businessmen.

At the time of the leaks, we learned that Sterling was about to receive a lifetime achievement award from the local chapter of the NAACP for his charitable contributions. Due to public outcry, that award was retracted.

Levenson, whose holdings are estimated at $500 million, has also been at the forefront of charitable work. He helped to spark the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Maryland and served as president of the “I Have a Dream Foundation,” which gives financial aid and scholarships to children from low-income families.

This scandal illustrates once again that all the good works in a person’s lifetime can be undone with the stroke of a keyboard, a swipe of a pen or hurtful words uttered in stupidity. What few Jewish NBA owners remain should take heed to learn from Sterling and Levenson a valuable lesson and take care not to repeat their mistakes.

Perhaps they should study more Torah and read more Talmud and Gemorah. They might then learn the value in recognizing all of God’s creatures as deserving of respect and fairness. Instead of concerns about filling their arenas, they should first fill their hearts with love. Once that’s accomplished, the rest will eventually come and what’s more, they’ll be allowed to stay at the party.