It was announced Tuesday that Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver will be suspended one year following a league investigation into workplace misconduct. He will also face a $10 million fine.
NBA star LeBron James responded to the league’s decision on Wednesday, explaining why he did not agree with the punishment Sarver received.
“Read through the Sarver stories a few times now,” James tweeted. “I gotta be honest…Our league definitely got this wrong. I don’t need to explain why. Y’all read the stories and decide for yourself. I said it before and I’m gonna say it again, there is no place in this league for that kind of behavior. I love this league and I deeply respect our leadership. But this isn’t right. There is no place for misogyny, sexism, and racism in any work place. Don’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 aint it.”
The NBA investigation found Sarver said the n-word at least five times during his 18-year ownership tenure in Phoenix. The investigation also notes Sarver consistently acted inappropriately toward employees, including saying numerous “sex-related comments toward female employees.” Sarver also made “inappropriate comments about the physical appearance” of both women who worked for the team and elsewhere, and he also reportedly engaged in “inappropriate physical conduct toward male employees.”
The NBA opened its investigation shortly after an ESPN report from Nov. 2021 included more than 70 current and former Suns employees who detailed a toxic workplace environment under Sarver that included both racism and misogyny. This included detailed instances of when Sarver said the n-word, including when he said he hired Lindsey Hunter as head coach in ’13 over Dan Majerle because “these [n-words] need a [n-word].”
Despite the findings, the league determined that none of Sarver’s behavior was “motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”
