Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*
Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol
Already have an account?
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Cathy Wurzer
St. Paul, Minn.

Long before Sterling's comments, there was Calvin Griffith

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
Elsa/Getty Images

Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, the chair of the NBA Board of Governors, says he will work quickly to try and convince Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to sell the franchise.

Yesterday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that Sterling has been banned from the league for life and fined $2.5 million.

All of this was a result of racist comments that Sterling made which became public just a few days ago.

It's not the first time that a team owner has gotten in trouble for making racist statements. In 1978, Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith told a Waseca Lions Club audience that he decided to move the Twins to Minnesota from Washington when he found out that there were only 15,000 black people here.

Nick Coleman, a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune at the time, was in the audience that day and reported what Griffith said. MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Coleman about what happened.