What About NBA's Homophobe Owner?

[RandySF]

While a racist in their midst deservedly gets the boot, the NBA and its players paid no attention when one of its owners gave half a million dollars to an anti-gay group, defended it and, despite a tepid boycott effort, went along his merry way without any consequence.

Doug Devos, who owns the Orlando Magic and the direct-selling company Amway, gave the cash to the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage back in 2009 through his family's charitable foundation. Much like the Chick-Fil-A folks.

Faced with threats of a boycott that went nowhere, a family spokesperson brushed it off with ease, saying they believe "the highest calling of any individual is to express their own personal beliefs. As private citizens, the DeVos family supports causes and organizations that advocate for policies aligned to their personal beliefs."

And there it ended. Not a peep from anyone associated with the NBA about the "values" they are now touting.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-crawford/what-about-nbas-homophobe_b_5236780.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

[Cha]

1. Well, thanks for doing something to expose this bigotry of doug devos, Randy..

[targetpractice]

2. There we go, the slippery slope...

Oh no! Super-rich folks can't be bigots anymore.

[flying rabbit]

3. I'm telling you...

... it just isn't worth the effort to become a multi billionaire these days. Poor bastards.

[moondust]

4. Previous NBA commissioner of 30 years

was apparently something of an apologist/elitist who wouldn't touch the owners. The new guy only started the job 3 months ago.

One of the DeVos family is doing a lot of damage thowing big money around in Michigan politics.

[Lint Head]

5. I met Devos once. My 1st cousin knows him. He's an arrogant jerk.

[BluegrassDem]

6. Well the major difference is that 75% of the players aren't gay

So you're not going to have boycotts regarding his homophobia. The threat of players sitting spurred this banishment. I'm glad. Of course, homophobia is abhorrent as well, but the outrage won't be as widespread as racism in this instance.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. Sports fans and the players are very comfortable with extreme bigotry

which is why the Clippers and others in the industry were silent about Sterling for so long as well. What bothered the players and the fans was not what he said, but that it was made public. The Clipper players have been aware of Sterling's racism and bigotry for many years and also aware of the fact that Sterling discriminates in renting his real estate holdings and they did not care as long as their money kept flowing.