No Privacy For the Intolerant: A Reflection on Using an Illegal Recording of Donald Sterling to Set NBA Precedent

Abstract

(13 Willamette Sports L.J., no. 2, 2016, at 1). This article criticizes the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) treatment of Donald Sterling, an NBA team owner who was recorded making racist comments during what he thought was a private conversation. The article describes the underlying events, then looks at the history of constitutional privacy in California (where the recording was made), examining common law and statutes. Next, the article discusses the legal battle between the NBA and Sterling. The author concludes by arguing that the NBA should not have been able to use an illegal recording to deprive Sterling of his ownership rights.