The Golden State Warriors were prepared to make a big statement in Tuesday’s game five against the Los Angeles Clippers if the opposing team’s owner wasn’t punished for his racist comments, according to a Bay Area sports columnist.
The San Jose Mercury News’ Marcus Thompson reported that the entire Warriors team planned to walk off the court once the ball was in the air at tipoff. They also planned to share the idea with Clippers players in hopes that they’d join the boycott.
“It would have been our only chance to make a statement in front of the biggest audience that we weren’t going to accept anything but the maximum punishment,” Warriors point guard Stephen Curry told Thompson. “We would deal with the consequences later but we were not going to play.”
The dramatic protest wasn’t necessary, thanks to NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s decision to ban Donald Sterling for life from associating with either the Clippers or the league. The Clippers also took home the victory,113-103, after the emotional day.
Before Silver handed down his decision, Warriors coach Mark Jackson had discouraged fans of both teams from attending the Tuesday’s game. The Clippers staged their own silent protest during warm ups for Sunday’s Game 4 of the series, when players turned their warm up shirts inside out to hide the team logo and donned black wristbands and socks.
This post has been updated.
