It’s real simple. LeBron James, along with other players won’t play next season if Donald Sterling still is an NBA owner, according to Roger Mason Jr., vice president of the NBA Players Association.

On the “Jim Rome on Showtime” show this week he said that the players are united in boycotting the league next season if Sterling isn’t removed as Clippers owner. The NBA owners committee met for the third time this week to discuss ousting Sterling.

“If it’s not handled by … the start of next season, I don’t see how we’re playing basketball,” Mason said. “I was just in the locker room with LeBron … At the end of the day, you know we have leaders. We have player reps, we’ve got executive committee members … Leaders of the teams, they’re all saying the same thing, ‘If this man is still in place, we ain’t playing.’”

Rome went on to ask: “So your guy LeBron, you think he would not play if Sterling were still in there when the [next] season started?”

“I was just in the locker room three or four days ago. LeBron and I talked about it,” Mason added. “He ain’t playing if Sterling is still an owner.”

When asked about how players would react if Sterling’s wife is kept on as an owner, Mason said: “There’s no place for that family in the NBA.”

And of course we don’t have to remind you that the two Dodo birds known as Donald and Shelly Sterling have said that they will do everything in thier legal rights to fight being removed as owners, and if either of them sues — or if they both do — what will happen if next season comes around and the Sterling saga still isn’t settled? Will the players actually sit out? Well, we shall see won’t we?