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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Etan Thomas

If the NBA is serious about its progressive values, then Robert Sarver has to go

Robert Sarver
The NBA has suspended Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury owner Robert Sarver for one year, plus fined him $10m, after an investigation found that he had engaged in what the league called ‘workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies’. Photograph: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Amid the backlash to what many interpreted as an inadequate punishment and a slap on the wrist for Phoenix Suns governor Robert Sarver, NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a news conference Wednesday to explain how he and the league’s Board of Governors came to their decision. Many were left wondering if a one-year suspension and a $10m fine for a billionaire practically equated to about $100, a vacation and being able to return as if nothing happened. Many felt that Sarver, who also controls the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, didn’t need a timeout, but instead should have received the same fate as Donald Sterling, the disgraced former Los Angeles Clippers governor who was banned from the NBA for life.

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