Less than a year on the job, new NBA commissioner Adam Silver faced maybe the toughest situation an NBA commissioner has ever had to face. By recent accounts, he made all the right moves by banning Donald Sterling for life, announcing his intent to force Sterling's sale of the team, and fining him the maximum $2.5 million.

Of course, when everyone has a chance to weigh in (not just athletes and the analysts who cover them), there'll likely be a smaller but still significant group firmly against the move, as well as those with varying levels of support. At face value, the act of taking away someone's property, fining them $2.5 million, and forever disassociating them from a league of which they were most recently firmly a part seems harsh for comments made off the record. Yet, Silver did what he probably had to, and he did so in a refreshingly transparent manner.

During today's press conference, Silver referenced speaking with Doc Rivers and Chris Paul several times. The impression he got was that if Sterling was the owner, the two would have serious reservations about playing for the team next season. Presumably, so would the rest of the players and coaches.

During the Q & A period, one reporter even asked if Clippers players would be granted automatic free agency after the season (the question coming after Silver announced the penalties). With players and coaches feeling so strongly against their owner, Silver had to take action. Instead of working behind the scenes to force Sterling out, he stated his intention to do so in a nationally-televised press conference.

"I expect the owners to vote in favor of forcing Mr. Sterling out," Silver said, or something close to that effect, when asked what would happen if they didn't. That statement might sound a little forceful for an issue supposed to be decided by a free vote, but at least it was done in plain sight.

Speaking without the note cards that probably dimmed the power of his initial press conference following TMZ's video leak on Saturday, Silver spoke directly to the camera and was forceful (cracking just one unnatural smile the entire time). He answered the questions he could, and deflected the ones he couldn't.

Responding to the suggesting that it was Sterling's reputation for racism and not just the one incident that incited his ban, Sterling insisted it was just the one incident. Yet, it's impossible to say that his several lawsuits -- including one filed by Elgin Baylor accusing Sterling of running a "plantation-style" organization -- didn't impact his case. Rivers, Paul, and others had undoubtedly heard about the reports (if they didn't know them already). Because their opinion was clearly valued, their knowledge of Sterling's past absolutely impacted their conversations with Silver.

The one forgotten piece in the whole Donald Sterling saga was what the fallen owner actually said. At one point in the secret recording, he pushes his racism on the world. He doesn't want his girlfriend to bring black people to games because he seems to believe others will look down on him for it -- not necessarily because of a personal hatred. It still sounds really bad, but not quite as bad as some of the statements sound when considered on their own. Thus, if Adam Silver truly considered only the recording, the penalty might not be as fitting. When taking into account Sterling's lifetime of racist behavior, however, the penalty is more than appropriate.