That team now includes LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar tweeted his displeasure that Sarver was allowed to retain ownership of the Suns despite 18 years of workplace misconduct and sporadic racial slurs detailed in the NBA’s 43-page report into the allegations. James’ full message: Read Sarver’s stories a few times now. I have to be honest…Certainly our league got it wrong. I don’t need to explain why. You will read all the stories and decide for yourself. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is no place in this league for this type of behavior. I love this league and have the utmost respect for our leadership. But this is not correct. There is no place for misogyny, sexism and racism in any workplace. It doesn’t matter if you own the team or play for the team. We hold our league up as an example of our values and this is not it. According to the NBA report, the league’s investigation found that Sarver used the N-word at least five times while repeating or claiming to repeat what a black man said, regularly made sexually inappropriate and vulgar jokes in the workplace, demeaned female employees and he often had them. the behavior reaches the point of bullying. In NBA history, Sarver’s punishment is second only to that of Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers who was quickly and forcefully ejected from the league after his racist comments were recorded and made public in 2014.
NBPA chief not happy with Robert Sarver’s punishment
James’ sentiments were consistent with his union leader, as National Basketball Players Association executive director Tamika Tremaglio released a statement the same day saying there should be no place for Sarver in the league: The story continues Mr. Sarver’s reported actions and behavior are appalling and have no place in our sport or any workplace for that matter. Additionally, the investigation confirmed that Mr. Sarver’s deplorable behavior did not come to light until November 2021. In fact, the report cited Mr. Sarver’s long history of misconduct, including racial and gender insensitivity, misogyny, and harassment. All issues that led to a toxic work environment for over a decade. I have made my position known to Adam Silver regarding my thoughts on the extent of the punishment and I strongly believe that Mr. Sarver should never again hold a managerial position in our league.
Adam Silver explains Robert Sarver’s Discipline
Hours before James posted his tweet, NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference to explain how the league reached its decision on Sarver. Calling Sarver’s behavior “indefensible” and apologizing to current and former employees who were upset, Silver alluded to even more information about the allegations that he could not release due to confidentiality agreements with witnesses. However, when asked why Sarver wasn’t banned for life from the NBA like Sterling, Silver said the two situations weren’t comparable enough for the precedent to apply: “The situations were dramatically different. I think what we saw in the case of Donald Sterling was blatant racist behavior directed at a select group of people. While it’s hard to know what’s in someone’s heart or mind, we heard those words in then the league office followed and that went public, too, in terms of what Mr. Sterling even said afterward about his actions. “In Robert Sarver’s case, we’re looking at the totality of the circumstances over an 18-year period in which he was the owner of these teams. Ultimately, I determined that in the circumstances in which he had used this language and this behavior while, as I said, he was indefensible, it’s not strong enough. It’s beyond any possible way to use language and behave like that, but it was completely different from what we saw on that previous occasion.” Silver also acknowledged that Sarver’s status as an owner made his discipline different from the discipline of any kind of union employee. He also noted the extensive reputational damage Sarver suffered as a result of the scandal. Robert Sarver still owns the Phoenix Suns. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
