Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban joined others in the league on Monday in condemning Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s alleged racist comments but wouldn’t go as far as calling for Sterling’s ouster.
“What Donald said was wrong,” Cuban said Monday before the Mavericks’ game against the San Antonio Spurs, as quoted by the Dallas Morning News. “It was abhorrent. There’s no place for racism in the NBA, any business I’m associated with, and I don’t want to be associated with people who have that position.”
“But at the same time, that’s a decision I make,” he added. “I think you’ve got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It’s a very, very slippery slope.”
Cuban explained that he didn’t like the idea of someone being forced out of the league over controversial privately-held beliefs, according to ESPN. The Texas billionaire stressed that the league would be better off without Sterling, though, and said the Clippers owner should be slapped with maximum sanctions.
“In this country, people are allowed to be morons,” he said, as quoted by ESPN.
The NBA is set to announce the results of its investigation into Sterling’s comments on Tuesday.
This post has been updated.