Unbelievable: Robert Sarver, the owner of the Phoenix Suns, is suspended because of his self-centeredness
Following an investigation that revealed racist and sexist workplace behavior, the NBA on Tuesday suspended Robert Sarver, the owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, for a year and fined him a record $10 million, according to officials.
Sarver will not be permitted to enter any NBA or WNBA structures for the next year, “including any office, arena, or practice facility,” the league announced in a statement.
According to the NBA, he will also not be permitted to take part in any WNBA or NBA events, represent the teams in any way, be involved in any basketball or team-related operations, or hold any kind of leadership position within the league.
The NBA said that the $10 million fine is the highest amount permitted by league regulations and that it is the largest sum of money ever imposed on a single individual in the history of professional basketball.
A Nov. 4 ESPN article detailing long-standing accusations of racism and misogyny within the Phoenix basketball organization served as the impetus for the league investigation.
The NBA hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a law firm with offices in New York, to oversee the investigation. 320 people, including both current and former team members, were questioned by the investigators.
The NBA claims that Sarver, team management, and staff “cooperated fully with the investigative process.”
Bullying, sexist remarks, and racial slurs
Sarver, the franchise’s managing partner for eighteen years, was found to have repeated “the N-word when recounting the statements of others” “on at least five occasions,” according to the investigation.
Additionally, the NBA discovered that he had “engaged in instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees, made many sex-related comments in the workplace, and made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of other women and female employees.”
On October 13, 2021, in Phoenix, Robert Sarver, the owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, attends the WNBA Finals.
Robert Sarver, the owner of the Mercury and Phoenix Suns, at the WNBA Finals in Phoenix on October 13.File by Christian Petersen from Getty Images
The league concluded that he “engaged in demeaning and harsh treatment of employees” that amounted to bullying.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released a statement saying, “The statements and conduct described in the findings of the independent investigation are troubling and disappointing.”
repeated threats to stop using them and repeated use of racial slurs
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Despite the fact that Sarver “did not recall ever saying the N-word except in connection with the 2012 or 2013 team-building exercise,” the report included details on all five of the accusations made against him.
At least three witnesses told investigators that Sarver used the racial slur during a 2004 meeting with a free agent, recalling that a black coach or player would regularly use the term when he was in college.
One witness “told Sarver he could never say the N-word, even when quoting someone else,” and another “made a joke to change the subject and ease the tension,” according to the report.
A black player used the word at a 2012–13 team-building event, and Sarver repeated it. This prompted a team representative to inform Sarver “that he could not use this word,” according to the NBA findings.
Sarver claimed that despite not receiving a technical foul, a black player for the Golden State Warriors used the N-word on October 30, 2016, during a 106-100 victory over the Suns.
Additionally, he is said to have used the term when he grumbled about referees to a Black Suns coach.
He additionally “sent a contemporaneous email to the League office complaining about the officiating during the game, in which (among several examples of on-court actions that he contended were incorrectly officiated) he purported to quote the Warriors player as saying the N-word spelled out with a ‘a’ at the end,” according to the investigation.
Sarver allegedly repeated a black player’s family member’s alleged statement, “White folks in the front, [N-words] in the back,” at least twice between 2010 and 2017, according to the report.
An allegation made in the ESPN report that Sarver preferred hiring black coaches because “these [N-words] need a [N-word” was not verified by the NBA investigation.
