Phil Mushnick takes great pride in playing the role of the contrarian, but really about Donald Sterling?

In his column this morning–and by the way this wasn’t the main topic–he had this passage about the Clippers owner.

Longtime NBA followers, executives, employees and media know Clippers owner Donald Sterling as a moneyed fool. Not a terrible man, but a jerk with dough who likes to show off, pop off and, increasingly, think too late, if at all. He’s someone best — and easily — ignored, especially at 81.

Well, not anymore.

Yes, what he allegedly said was painful, indefensible and inexcusable, except why would we expect him, at 81, to be less loony and more discreet and clear-headed than he was at 75 or 78?

Visit any assisted living facility. Or think of that aunt or uncle all of us have known and suffered with a wince because we knew they were off. And they come in all races.

Not everyone, at 81, should reasonably or humanely be held accountable for whatever ugly comments come out their mouths.

At least keep that in mind.

Well, yeah, there are people who in their 80s say cringe-worthy remarks. However, given that people are living longer than ever, there are many 80-somethings who could run circles over 20-somethings, at least mentally.

Also, most 81-year-olds don’t own a NBA team.

Not sure what Mushnick’s intent is here, but giving Sterling a sliver of an excuse for his outrageous comments isn’t going to go down well. As you would expect, Mushnick is getting hammered on Twitter.