The 60-year-old property developer said in a statement that he did not want to be a “distraction” and that he “wants the best” for the organizations. “As a person of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness. I expected that the one-year layoff from the Commissioner would give me the time to focus, make amends and remove my personal controversy from the teams that I and so many fans love,” Sarver said. “But in our unforgiving climate today, it has become painfully clear that this is no longer possible – that any good I have done, or might yet do, is offset by things I have said in the past. For these reasons, I am beginning the process of looking for buyers for the Suns and Mercury.” Adam Silver was the “good” commissioner. Why waste that defending the bad guys? NBA commissioner Adam Silver suspended Sarver for a year and fined him $10 million last week after concluding a lengthy investigation into workplace conduct that began after an ESPN.com article in November. Silver, however, stopped short of issuing a lifetime ban to Sarver, a punishment the commissioner previously imposed on former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2014 for his racist comments. Prominent NBA stars such as LeBron James, Chris Paul and Draymond Green, as well as National Basketball Players Association executive director Tamika Tremaglio, denounced Sarver’s behavior and suggested Silver’s punishment did not go far enough and PayPal said he would not renew his contract as the Suns’ jersey sponsor after this season if Sarver remained with the team, which he has owned since 2004. Suns minority owner Jahm Najafi and civil rights activists such as Rev . Al Sharpton called for Sarver’s resignation, while Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and city council members issued a statement saying they were “appalled” by his behavior and planned to conduct their own investigation. With the 2022-23 season starting next month and team media days starting on Sunday, Sarver’s decision to pursue a sale of the Suns was met with relief around the league, given his strong initial denial of ESPN.com’s allegations and his reputation for stubbornness. Although he apologized after Silver suspended him, Sarver disputed some of the report’s findings, and his legal representatives continued to dispute some of the allegations. Some observers feared that Sarver would dig in, like Sterling, creating a protracted power struggle over the Suns’ future and a tenuous day-to-day existence. “I fully support Robert Sarver’s decision to sell the Phoenix Suns and Mercury,” Silver said in a statement Wednesday. “This is the right next step for the organization and the community.” Silver noted last week that he did not have the authority as commissioner to unilaterally take the Suns away from Sarver. Instead, the NBA Board of Governors would need to vote on Sarver by a three-quarters majority, a difficult and time-consuming proposition and one that could trigger a lawsuit from Sarver. However, the NBA’s decision to publicly release the investigators’ report exposed Sarver to widespread criticism and outrage. In the past, similar research reports have been summarized by the league, rather than published in full. “So proud to be a part of a league dedicated to progress,” James tweeted Wednesday. “We thank Mr. Sarver for the quick decision that was in the best interest of our sports community,” NBPA President CJ McCollum said in a statement. Investigators from the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz documented a long list of workplace misconduct violations in a 43-page report, including the use of the n-word on at least five occasions, repeated instances of sexist behavior and multiple incidents in which Sarver exposed to employees. According to witnesses, Sarver used the n-word while recruiting a free agent in 2004, during a team-building exercise in 2012 or 2013, after an October 2016 game against the Golden State Warriors and while telling a story about what a player’s family member had said while boarding the team plane. According to two witnesses, Sarver reported that the family member said, “White people ahead, [n-words] on the back.” Investigators found that Sarver, who is White, continued to use the insult for years despite repeated warnings from colleagues that doing so was inappropriate. Sarver’s transgressions toward female workers included telling one she should stop working a job because her baby “needs their mom, not their dad,” asking another if she had gotten “an upgrade” — a euphemism for a breast augmentation – and telling another she’d “never seen anything that big” while he prepared to shower at the team facility. In another incident, he reprimanded a female employee for her performance in 2011, objected when she started crying, and then hosted a meal for four female employees that was seen by attendees as a means of toughening them up. Investigators attributed some of Sarver’s behavior to his “offensive and inappropriate” sense of humor and “lack of filter,” but documented incidents that repeatedly crossed the line into harassment. While receiving a “fitness check” from a male employee, Sarver “accidentally dropped his underwear” while the employee was kneeling in front of him, exposed. Sarver also danced “pelvis to pelvis” with a male employee at a holiday party, pulled down a male employee’s pants in front of co-workers during a 2014 charity event and asked at least one player on the 2009-2010 team about their personal grooming habits. . Under the terms of his suspension, Sarver was barred from attending all NBA and WNBA games and from team facilities, cannot appear at public events on behalf of the Suns or the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, and cannot participates in the business activities of his organizations or league meetings. Sam Garvin, a longtime minority owner of the Suns, replaced Sarver on an interim basis. “The racist old boys’ club in professional sports is officially closed,” Sharpton said in a statement. “A new era is upon us where it is unacceptable to view black players as property. Today’s decision by Sarver is the first step in the long road to justice for the Suns and the Mercury — the staff, the players and the fans. It is now imperative that the NBA, both teams, corporate sponsors and the new owner, whoever they are, uphold their commitment to root out racism, misogyny and hate.” Throughout his tenure, Sarver was known as a thrifty and sometimes combative owner who struggled to put winning teams on the court after the Suns’ initial “Seven Seconds or Less” success, reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2005 and 2006. Phoenix missed the playoffs for 10 straight seasons from 2011 to 2020 as Sarver cycled through coaches, hired and fired executives and repeatedly hit the NBA draft. During a particularly tumultuous stretch, Sarver fired coach Earl Watson just three games into the 2017-2018 season and then fired his full-time replacement, Igor Kokoskov, after one season. There were many mishaps along the way. In 2014, Sarver apologized to Suns fans because the San Antonio Spurs had chosen to rest several stars during a game in Phoenix. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich boldly responded by saying that Sarver should have been wearing a “chicken suit” during his speech. In 2017, Suns guard Eric Bledsoe tweeted “I don’t want to be here,” a commercial request he later claimed was a reference to his boredom at a hair salon. Then in 2019, Sarver allegedly placed live goats in his general manager’s office in what was apparently a motivational tactic. But the arrival of coaches Monty Williams and Paul in recent years has brought the Suns back to the playoffs and the national stage. Phoenix reached the Finals in 2021 for the first time since 1993 and won a franchise-record 64 games last season despite the ongoing search for Sarver. With a talented roster built around Paul, all-star guard Devin Booker, forward Mikal Bridges and center Deandre Ayton, the Suns enter the upcoming season as one of the favorites in the West. Sarver led a group that bought the Suns for about $400 million in 2004, and a recent Forbes estimate pegged the franchise’s current value at more than $1.8 billion. The valuation of the Suns sale price could exceed $2 billion, as NBA franchises have increased in value significantly in recent years and a new media rights deal is on the horizon. After the Clippers sold for $2 billion in 2014, the Houston Rockets sold for $2.2 billion in 2017, and the Brooklyn Nets sold their Barclays Center arena for $3.3 billion in 2019. As of 2020, smaller market franchises such as the Utah Jazz ($1.6 billion ) and Minnesota Timberwolves ($1.5 billion) produced lucrative returns for their longtime owners. Subscribe to the NBA Weekly Newsletter to get the best basketball coverage in your inbox
