NBA commissioner responds to blowback over Sarver’s suspension

NBA commissioner Adam Silver responded to criticism the league has received over its yearlong suspension of Robert Sarver, who owns the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, following its investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct against him and his organization. 

During a press conference on Wednesday, Silver, who succeeded David Stern as NBA commissioner in 2014, said that Sarver’s conduct as found in the league’s investigation was “indefensible” but that he felt the league handled Sarver’s punishment in a “fair manner.” 

The league’s hired law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, found in its investigation that Sarver, who purchased the Phoenix-based NBA franchise in 2004, used the N-word on at least five occasions, engaged in inappropriate conduct with female and male employees and publicly berated employees on multiple occasions. 

“The conduct is indefensible,” Silver said during the league press conference, “but I felt we dealt with it in a fair manner in both taking into account the totality of the circumstances, not just those particular allegations, but the 18 years in which Mr. Sarver has owned the Suns and the Mercury.” 

When a reporter asked about the league’s punishment of Sarver in comparison with that levied against former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned from the NBA for life and fined $2.5 million for making racist comments, Silver replied that while Sarver’s language were “beyond the pale” the situation wasn’t comparable to that involving Sterling, who the commissioner said was guilty of “blatant racist conduct directed at a select group of people.” 

Sterling’s ban came after audio surfaced of him making racist remarks about several Black people, including NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, during a phone conversation with his ex-girlfriend. 

“Ultimately, we made a judgment, I made the judgment, that the circumstances in which he had used that language and that behavior that while as I said it was indefensible is … not strong enough,” Silver said of Sarver. “It’s beyond the pale in every possible way to use language and behave that way, but that it was wholly of a different kind than what we saw in that earlier case.” 

Silver added that he did not discuss with Sarver the possibility of him selling his stake in the Suns due to the league’s investigation. 

This comes as the league launched its investigation last year after sports media outlet ESPN published a story in which dozens of sources alleged Sarver had engaged in racist and misogynistic behavior during a 17-year span. 

The Suns Legacy Partners LLC said in a statement following the punishment that Sarver will take full responsibility for actions noted in the league’s findings. 

In separate statements, the NAACP and the Rev. Al Sharpton called out the league for its initial punishment toward Sarver, saying that it is not enough. 

“I encourage the Board of Governors to hold Mr. Sarver fully accountable for his actions, and to vote for his removal from the league in recognition that his behavior does not represent the values of the NBA,” Sharpton said in his statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with Commissioner Silver and the leadership of the league to fight racism and abuse at all levels, and to lead the American sports community in support of these principles.”