If the sports news industry can do one thing it is get mileage out of a story. The comments made more than a month ago by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling are no exception. For anyone unfamiliar with the story, Sterling, who was being secretly recorded by his supposed girlfriend, V. Stiviano, made racist comments, including a request that she not “bring [black people] to my games.”

Sterling went on to criticize Instagram photos of Stiviano’s which included herself and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a Los Angeles basketball icon. In a later interview with Anderson Cooper, Sterling appeared apologetic for his comments, but took a hard right turn and began questioning Johnson’s contributions to minority groups, referencing his battle with HIV and questioning his status as a role model.

These are far from the only things Sterling has done to garner criticism, however. Sterling was also embroiled in several lawsuits alleging racial discrimination in renting some of his southern California apartment properties and of using disparaging language in reference to African-American and Hispanic tenants.

Unfortunately that is not the end of Sterling’s troubles with racism. According to several former employees at the Clippers, Sterling encouraged a ‘plantation-type’ mentality, including a preference for black players and a white head coach and disallowing a black general manager from negotiating player salaries. In his recorded conversation with Stiviano, Sterling also alluded to giving his players what they have, saying “I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses.”

This is not simply case of racism on the part of Donald Sterling, though. For all of the allegations in his past, he has never been convicted of anything racially discriminationatory and, according to his interview with Anderson Cooper, the secret recording released to TMZ was not the full conversation. Sterling claims that, in telling Stiviano not to bring “black people” to his games, he was referencing her specific words, uttered minutes before the recording begins, and speaking from jealousy, not hate.

Sterling did make horrible references to a twisted view of race and appearance, but one thing shines clearer than racism in his now-public statements: he isn’t making sense. Jumping from topic to topic, Sterling hardly completes any full thoughts, going off on tangent after tangent. This can be blamed on a number of things — his relatively advanced age, his apparent jealousy of Stiviano’s associates, his dismay at once again finding himself the target of accusations of racism or his impending punishment from the NBA.

Few men and women could handle the enormous pressure Donald Sterling must be feeling now well, but Sterling himself has come up far short of even adequately dealing with the situation. From attacking Magic Johnson to accusing Anderson Cooper of being “more racist” than himself to claiming only the media is unsupportive of him, Sterling has made one misstep after another, each of which has crammed his foot farther and farther into his own mouth.

Perhaps Sterling could have survived the secret recording on its own as Clippers owner, but the NBA is not about to take any chances on their image, especially when Donald Sterling seems so intent on destroying his own. As a private organization with a written constitution and bylaws, they have the right to remove owners from their midst, and that is exactly what they should do with Sterling.

The NBA owners will hold a meeting on June 3, presumably to vote on whether or not Sterling and his legal but separated wife, Shelly Sterling, can remain owners of the Clippers. Shelly Sterling, for her part, has reportedly been given control of the Clippers by her husband and is seeking to sell the team on her own terms, rather than have the NBA force a sale.

Even with this in mind, the NBA should send a message in the coming days and vote Donald Sterling out. He is a man who might have simply said some things he didn’t mean in a jealous fit, but he is also a man who cannot be trusted to publicly represent himself, let alone the NBA.