When Clippers owner Donald Sterling's racist views of black people were exposed in 2014 through a leaked phone conversation, the NBA took less than a week to drop a lifetime ban on him.
Pressure from NBA players, 77 percent of whom were black, influenced the decision. They spoke out about their disgust with Sterling's offensive rhetoric. They wore warm-up shirts inside-out as a form of protest. In a meeting, Clippers players reportedly discussed the idea of a boycott.
The NBA listened to its players.
Major League Baseball is in a position, after incidents of racism last week in Boston, to send a message about the sport's direction in the face of dwindling fans.