Robert Sarver suspended one year, fined $10 million

[Roy H.]

Phoenix Suns majority owner Robert Sarver has been suspended for one year from the Suns/Mercury, fined $10 million and must complete a training program focused on respect and appropriate conduct in the workplace, the NBA announces.

[Roy H.]

[Kernewek]

Getting a bunch of white squares in your posts but I assume they're tweets?

Shame for Suns fans that they didn't force Sarver out.

Edit: amazing that the league found that there was 'no evidence of racial or gender-based animus' in his behaviour. An impressively high quantity of excrement considering the situation involved.


https://twitter.com/kylegoon/status/1569718705701163013?s=20&t=JTFCqzjfbPn9uiZRspkgeg

[Donoghus]

Good.  He's one of the worst owners in the NBA and scumbag.

[Moranis]

This conduct seems so much worse than what Sterling did, yet Sterling was forced out and Sarver basically gets a slap on the wrist.  I don't get the disconnect.

[Celtics2021]

This conduct seems so much worse than what Sterling did, yet Sterling was forced out and Sarver basically gets a slap on the wrist.  I don't get the disconnect.

I think Sterling was worse, personally.  And it was definitely worse for Sterling that there were publicly released recordings -- without those, I think he'd have gotten similar punishment as Sarver.  Regardless, they're cut from the same cloth.

[Roy H.]

This conduct seems so much worse than what Sterling did, yet Sterling was forced out and Sarver basically gets a slap on the wrist.  I don't get the disconnect.

I think Sterling was worse, personally.  And it was definitely worse for Sterling that there were publicly released recordings -- without those, I think he'd have gotten similar punishment as Sarver.  Regardless, they're cut from the same cloth.

Yeah, based upon the respective findings, telling somebody "don't bring black people to my games" is probably worse than reading the N-word out loud, particularly if the NBA accepts that there was no racist intent.

But, I'm a bit skeptical that a guy who repeatedly uses the N-word and repeatedly makes sexual comments at work has no racist or sexual intent.  I guess there was no smoking gun, and I assume that there was no proof of discrimination against minorities in terms of advancement of their career, but it certainly seems like a hostile place to work.

[Moranis]

This conduct seems so much worse than what Sterling did, yet Sterling was forced out and Sarver basically gets a slap on the wrist.  I don't get the disconnect.

I think Sterling was worse, personally.  And it was definitely worse for Sterling that there were publicly released recordings -- without those, I think he'd have gotten similar punishment as Sarver.  Regardless, they're cut from the same cloth.

Yeah, based upon the respective findings, telling somebody "don't bring black people to my games" is probably worse than reading the N-word out loud, particularly if the NBA accepts that there was no racist intent.

But, I'm a bit skeptical that a guy who repeatedly uses the N-word and repeatedly makes sexual comments at work has no racist or sexual intent.  I guess there was no smoking gun, and I assume that there was no proof of discrimination against minorities in terms of advancement of their career, but it certainly seems like a hostile place to work.

I actually think Sarver's is much worse because it apparently created an 18+ year employment problem that others followed his suit and created a very hostile work environment. 

The investigation also substantiated instances of "workplace misconduct engaged in by Suns employees that were not directly related to Sarver and a lack of proper organizational policies and controls." It found instances of "racial insensitivity, mistreatment of female employees, inappropriate commentary related to sex or sexual orientation, and disrespectful communications."

That is bad.  really bad.

[Celtics2021]

This conduct seems so much worse than what Sterling did, yet Sterling was forced out and Sarver basically gets a slap on the wrist.  I don't get the disconnect.

I think Sterling was worse, personally.  And it was definitely worse for Sterling that there were publicly released recordings -- without those, I think he'd have gotten similar punishment as Sarver.  Regardless, they're cut from the same cloth.

Yeah, based upon the respective findings, telling somebody "don't bring black people to my games" is probably worse than reading the N-word out loud, particularly if the NBA accepts that there was no racist intent.

But, I'm a bit skeptical that a guy who repeatedly uses the N-word and repeatedly makes sexual comments at work has no racist or sexual intent.  I guess there was no smoking gun, and I assume that there was no proof of discrimination against minorities in terms of advancement of their career, but it certainly seems like a hostile place to work.

I actually think Sarver's is much worse because it apparently created an 18+ year employment problem that others followed his suit and created a very hostile work environment. 

The investigation also substantiated instances of "workplace misconduct engaged in by Suns employees that were not directly related to Sarver and a lack of proper organizational policies and controls." It found instances of "racial insensitivity, mistreatment of female employees, inappropriate commentary related to sex or sexual orientation, and disrespectful communications."

That is bad.  really bad.

The whispers on Sterling’s racism and sexism were years old before that recording was released.  You don’t think the NBA would have turned up something similar if they performed a year long investigation?  That it didn’t need to do so isn’t a mitigating factor.  Sterling didn’t just have one bad moment that happened to have been caught on tape — it was part of a known pattern.  That it was so public just made the process much quicker and resolute.

[Moranis]

This conduct seems so much worse than what Sterling did, yet Sterling was forced out and Sarver basically gets a slap on the wrist.  I don't get the disconnect.

I think Sterling was worse, personally.  And it was definitely worse for Sterling that there were publicly released recordings -- without those, I think he'd have gotten similar punishment as Sarver.  Regardless, they're cut from the same cloth.

Yeah, based upon the respective findings, telling somebody "don't bring black people to my games" is probably worse than reading the N-word out loud, particularly if the NBA accepts that there was no racist intent.

But, I'm a bit skeptical that a guy who repeatedly uses the N-word and repeatedly makes sexual comments at work has no racist or sexual intent.  I guess there was no smoking gun, and I assume that there was no proof of discrimination against minorities in terms of advancement of their career, but it certainly seems like a hostile place to work.

I actually think Sarver's is much worse because it apparently created an 18+ year employment problem that others followed his suit and created a very hostile work environment. 

The investigation also substantiated instances of "workplace misconduct engaged in by Suns employees that were not directly related to Sarver and a lack of proper organizational policies and controls." It found instances of "racial insensitivity, mistreatment of female employees, inappropriate commentary related to sex or sexual orientation, and disrespectful communications."

That is bad.  really bad.

The whispers on Sterling’s racism and sexism were years old before that recording was released.  You don’t think the NBA would have turned up something similar if they performed a year long investigation?  That it didn’t need to do so isn’t a mitigating factor.  Sterling didn’t just have one bad moment that happened to have been caught on tape — it was part of a known pattern.  That it was so public just made the process much quicker and resolute.

Maybe, maybe not.  For a long time, Sterling stuck with his black GM.  That certainly doesn't mean he wasn't racist, but that has to help set the culture of the organization from the top down.  I have no doubt Sterling had some racist business practices with respect to his housing properties, and he clearly had some issues with the particular people on that recording, but I'm not sure how racist the Clippers, as an organization, actually were.  It seems pretty clear the Suns were discriminatory towards women for a very long time, and it appears there were racial and other issues there.  And to be clear, forcing Sterling out was fine, but they also should have forced Sarver out.  The conduct seems pretty darn similar to me.

[Celtics2021]

This conduct seems so much worse than what Sterling did, yet Sterling was forced out and Sarver basically gets a slap on the wrist.  I don't get the disconnect.

I think Sterling was worse, personally.  And it was definitely worse for Sterling that there were publicly released recordings -- without those, I think he'd have gotten similar punishment as Sarver.  Regardless, they're cut from the same cloth.

Yeah, based upon the respective findings, telling somebody "don't bring black people to my games" is probably worse than reading the N-word out loud, particularly if the NBA accepts that there was no racist intent.

But, I'm a bit skeptical that a guy who repeatedly uses the N-word and repeatedly makes sexual comments at work has no racist or sexual intent.  I guess there was no smoking gun, and I assume that there was no proof of discrimination against minorities in terms of advancement of their career, but it certainly seems like a hostile place to work.

I actually think Sarver's is much worse because it apparently created an 18+ year employment problem that others followed his suit and created a very hostile work environment. 

The investigation also substantiated instances of "workplace misconduct engaged in by Suns employees that were not directly related to Sarver and a lack of proper organizational policies and controls." It found instances of "racial insensitivity, mistreatment of female employees, inappropriate commentary related to sex or sexual orientation, and disrespectful communications."

That is bad.  really bad.

The whispers on Sterling’s racism and sexism were years old before that recording was released.  You don’t think the NBA would have turned up something similar if they performed a year long investigation?  That it didn’t need to do so isn’t a mitigating factor.  Sterling didn’t just have one bad moment that happened to have been caught on tape — it was part of a known pattern.  That it was so public just made the process much quicker and resolute.

Maybe, maybe not.  For a long time, Sterling stuck with his black GM.  That certainly doesn't mean he wasn't racist, but that has to help set the culture of the organization from the top down.  I have no doubt Sterling had some racist business practices with respect to his housing properties, and he clearly had some issues with the particular people on that recording, but I'm not sure how racist the Clippers, as an organization, actually were.  It seems pretty clear the Suns were discriminatory towards women for a very long time, and it appears there were racial and other issues there.  And to be clear, forcing Sterling out was fine, but they also should have forced Sarver out.  The conduct seems pretty darn similar to me.

That black GM literally sued Sterling for wrongful termination, accusing him of having a “vision of a Southern plantation-type structure” for the Clippers.

I don’t believe you went for the equivalent of “but he had black friends” defense.

[bdm860]

When the Donald Sterling stuff was happening, Mark Cuban said he didn't think the NBA would force Sterling to sell because it would cause a slippery slope.

And what do you know, it wasn't long before the Mavericks had their own problems come to light, with "a longstanding culture of organizational mistreatment of women" that found “numerous instances of sexual harassment and other improper workplace conduct within the Mavericks organization over a period spanning more than twenty years”.  Mark Cuban paid $10m for that one.  This is probably closer to the Sarver situation than the Sterling situation.

And I also think this goes back to why Sarver wasn't forced to sell.  None of the other owners want that slippery slope of forcing to sell over a bad workplace.  And like Roy said, no smoking gun and all.

[celticsclay]

This conduct seems so much worse than what Sterling did, yet Sterling was forced out and Sarver basically gets a slap on the wrist.  I don't get the disconnect.

I think Sterling was worse, personally.  And it was definitely worse for Sterling that there were publicly released recordings -- without those, I think he'd have gotten similar punishment as Sarver.  Regardless, they're cut from the same cloth.

Yeah, based upon the respective findings, telling somebody "don't bring black people to my games" is probably worse than reading the N-word out loud, particularly if the NBA accepts that there was no racist intent.

But, I'm a bit skeptical that a guy who repeatedly uses the N-word and repeatedly makes sexual comments at work has no racist or sexual intent.  I guess there was no smoking gun, and I assume that there was no proof of discrimination against minorities in terms of advancement of their career, but it certainly seems like a hostile place to work.

I actually think Sarver's is much worse because it apparently created an 18+ year employment problem that others followed his suit and created a very hostile work environment. 

The investigation also substantiated instances of "workplace misconduct engaged in by Suns employees that were not directly related to Sarver and a lack of proper organizational policies and controls." It found instances of "racial insensitivity, mistreatment of female employees, inappropriate commentary related to sex or sexual orientation, and disrespectful communications."

That is bad.  really bad.

The whispers on Sterling’s racism and sexism were years old before that recording was released.  You don’t think the NBA would have turned up something similar if they performed a year long investigation?  That it didn’t need to do so isn’t a mitigating factor.  Sterling didn’t just have one bad moment that happened to have been caught on tape — it was part of a known pattern.  That it was so public just made the process much quicker and resolute.

Maybe, maybe not.  For a long time, Sterling stuck with his black GM.  That certainly doesn't mean he wasn't racist, but that has to help set the culture of the organization from the top down.  I have no doubt Sterling had some racist business practices with respect to his housing properties, and he clearly had some issues with the particular people on that recording, but I'm not sure how racist the Clippers, as an organization, actually were.  It seems pretty clear the Suns were discriminatory towards women for a very long time, and it appears there were racial and other issues there.  And to be clear, forcing Sterling out was fine, but they also should have forced Sarver out.  The conduct seems pretty darn similar to me.

That black GM literally sued Sterling for wrongful termination, accusing him of having a “vision of a Southern plantation-type structure” for the Clippers.

I don’t believe you went for the equivalent of “but he had black friends” defense.

Yeah, I mean, I don’t get people have already forgotten all that Sterling said and did with coaches to players like Danny manning and baron davis. This was going on for 20+ years to say nothing of the housing stuff. I don’t think there is a big enough rock in the world to have been unaware of some of the racist stuff happening with Sterling before the recording.

Here is a list of just a handful of the reported incidents. https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2042877-a-brief-history-of-donald-sterlings-alleged-racism.amp.html

Also let’s not be the people that try to judge what is racist for the players that are directly impacted by it. The clippers were not going to play for Sterling any more under any condition, so nba had no choice. If the suns players felt the same way over his behavior I don’t think they would just kept playing for two years patiently wondering what the fine would be. Ironically Paul was a leader on both teams.

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2045972-nba-players-were-to-boycott-tuesdays-games-if-donald-sterling-wasnt-banned.amp.html

The boycott would have affected not just the game between the Clippers and Golden State Warriors, but also the Game 5 battles between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies, as well as the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. Mason said player representatives from all 30 NBA teams had weighed in and decided this was the best course of action.

[celticsclay]

Also here is Lebron James at the time on Sterling, and he had this one right.

"There's no room for that in our game," LeBron James, then of the Miami Heat, said the morning after the tapes were released. "Can't have that from a player, we can't ever from an owner, we can't have it from a fan, and so on and so on. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, Hispanic or whatever the case may be. We can't have that as part of our game."

Lebron met with Sarver as a free agent in 2014 and I have not seen any public comments from him on the sarver accusations even though they first came out a long time ago (it’s possible I missed something but couldn’t find it).

[Moranis]

When the Donald Sterling stuff was happening, Mark Cuban said he didn't think the NBA would force Sterling to sell because it would cause a slippery slope.

And what do you know, it wasn't long before the Mavericks had their own problems come to light, with "a longstanding culture of organizational mistreatment of women" that found “numerous instances of sexual harassment and other improper workplace conduct within the Mavericks organization over a period spanning more than twenty years”.  Mark Cuban paid $10m for that one.  This is probably closer to the Sarver situation than the Sterling situation.

And I also think this goes back to why Sarver wasn't forced to sell.  None of the other owners want that slippery slope of forcing to sell over a bad workplace.  And like Roy said, no smoking gun and all.

so we are clear being racist is really bad, but being sexist is ok?  why the double standard?