I have a cousin who is managing partner of the law firm that represents Jerry Jones, you know, the guy that more or less told the NFL to stuff it when it comes to licensing of merchandise and to selling sponsorships. Just for grins I called him up last night and had an interesting conversation. The hill the NBA will have to climb in court over trying to make Donald sell is they are going to have to prove tangible detriment. They will not be able to just claim that what he said was detrimental, they will have to real numbers. In this case there is no “measurable or tangible degree of detriment”. Also, and this is important, in his rants, he never once said anything that was derogatory or specifically racist, only that he did not want his girlfriend associating with blacks. He never stated a reason why he didn’t want this. My cousin felt that Donald’s lawyers could make a case that the NBA has no case. Also consider that the courts have ruled in favor more than once on owner’s rights over the associations rights in several situations including Jerry Jones and Al Davis. Davis moved the Raiders not once but twice in spite of every owner going against him. In the end the court sided with the rights of the owner over the rules of the association. And yes, I will agree that I could be fired for saying things I shouldn’t, in Donald’s case he is not subject to employment guidelines, he does not work for the NBA. Also, and this is the most detrimental to the case of the NBA, when Elgin Baylor sued him, Baylor brought to court many items of evidence that his lawyers felt would seal the case against Donald. It didn’t happen, and those things were much more egregious than this phone conversation.
Smarter than the average bear
