When I first heard about this on the radio I thought, "who cares?" It was a private conversation, covered by the First Amendment, and leaked to TMZ (WTF is TMZ?). Sterling can say whatever he wants, and it's legal to be a racist. It's only illegal to do certain racist actions, like employment, housing, education, etc.

I think the reason it becomes an NBA and public issue is because the NBA is a private rich men's club that enjoys a professional sports monopoly with Congress' consent. That's what makes it a public issue. The NBA can have whatever rules it wants (consistent with the Congressional approval of its monopoly) and enforce those rules. Considering the importance of its public image, along with the fact that the billionaires in this exclusive rich men's club make millions of dollars off their teams that consist of at least 70% black players, imposing strong sanctions on blantant racism is just good business sense.