2014 NBA Playoffs: 10 Burning Questions (Part 1)

9. Will the players really boycott if Donald Sterling is still the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers?

In an interview with Jim Rome on Showtime, NBA players union vice president Roger Mason Jr. opened a can of worms when he said LeBron James would lead a boycott if Donald Sterling were allowed to keep the Clippers. Mason later backtracked faster than Marshall Henderson’s Twitter feed, and LeBron himself stated that he was pleased with the progress being made to remove Sterling from the league.

But what happens if the NBA is unsuccessful in removing Sterling?

LeBron’s comments about progress on that front were temporarily reassuring, but they certainly had an ominous tone to them, almost as if to say, “We’re happy with the work Adam Silver’s doing and don’t feel the need for anything drastic like a boycott…yet.” King James hasn’t been afraid to speak his mind throughout this whole ordeal and both the Clippers and Warriors considered boycotting their first round series as a form of protest. This question won’t be answered for awhile, but if Silver is somehow unsuccessful in removing Sterling from the NBA, don’t be surprised to see things turn uglier than, well, Donald Sterling.