My honest opinion? I think Sterling has been seen by the other owners as an embarassment to the NBA for years. His team was a joke for decades and he's a boorish and unlikable person. The players hate him because he's cheap, and I think that most of the other owners were looking for an excuse, any excuse, to drop the hammer on him. David Stern never had the nerve to because I think he feared the litigation that would certainly have followed. Silver, being new as commissioner and also needing a way to demonstrate his firm leadership ability, wasn't so cautious and when Sterling gave him an excuse he jumped at the chance to get rid of the him.
im not so sure.
i keep coming back to the fact that this guy just isn’t stupid and i’m betting there is a whole lot more to this whole thing.
as far as the whole NBA (players, owners, etc.) hating him and wanting him gone, what did the NAACP miss when they were going to give him a major award ? just sayin.