Sarver was banned from the NBA for a year and fined $10 million after the league released its findings Tuesday from a 10-month independent investigation into allegations of workplace abuse during Sarver’s tenure as Suns executive. lasted almost two decades. Earlier Wednesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference in New York after the league’s board meeting and voiced concerns from the player base — which is nearly 75 percent black. 2 Related Among a series of allegations first reported by ESPN.com last November and confirmed by an investigation by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Sarver was found to repeat, at least five times, the word N when narrating the statements of others. “I talked to a couple of players,” Silver said Wednesday. “These were private conversations. I’ll let the players talk directly about how they feel.” Silver went on to describe his conversations with the players as “frustrating” because, he said, “I think those players will see that we’re continuing to address these issues.” Later Wednesday, Tamika Tremaglio, the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, issued a statement, saying Sarver’s “reported actions and behavior are appalling and have no place in our sport or any workplace for that matter. “ Tremaglio added that she “has made my position known to Adam Silver regarding my thoughts on the extent of the punishment and strongly believes that Mr. Sarver should never hold a managerial position in our league again.” James’ statement echoes his stance since 2014, when the league was investigating alleged racial misconduct by then-Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. “There’s no room for Donald Sterling in the NBA — there’s no room for him,” James said before a Miami Heat playoff game against the Charlotte Bobcats. “… They’ve got to take a stand. They’ve got to be very aggressive with it. I don’t know what it’s going to be, but we can’t have that in our league.” James has spent the last half of his NBA career, which enters its 20th season this fall, as a public advocate for social change. Silver said he was personally in “disbelief” when he learned of Sarver’s transgressions, but that many of the players and coaches around the league he spoke with found the situation all too familiar. “Look, I think it’s no secret that this is a league where about 80 percent of our players are black. More than half of our coaches are black,” Silver said. “I will say that none of them are probably as shocked as I am, living their lives, that I don’t think they read that saying, oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening.”
