. . . "d. (Consider the NBA's decision to impose a dress code in 2005, a move designed to counter a perception that the league was full of thugs.) But the Sterling fracas has pushed all of this not-quite-subtext to the fore, in part because Sterling told his former girlfriend, V. Stiviano, that his compensation of his players for their work was an act of charity: I support them and give them food, and c" .