The NBA’s punishment for Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver has been widely criticized throughout the NBA world and Warriors star Draymond Green has now piled on.
Sarver was dealt a one-year suspension and fined $10 million Sept. 13 after an investigation into workplace misconduct.
“I do think it’s absolutely insane that Robert Sarver’s just gonna receive a one-year ban and $10 million fine and just return to the sidelines next year and return to the building next year,” he said on The Draymond Green Show podcast. “It actually goes against everything that the NBA stands for.”
The investigation found that Sarver said the n-word at least five times during his 18-year ownership tenure in Phoenix. Per the NBA investigation, Sarver consistently acted inappropriately toward employees, including 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.”
In November 2021, ESPN reported accounts from 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].” The NBA opened its investigation soon after that report was published.
Despite the findings, the NBA determined that none of Sarver’s behavior was “motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”
“To think that someone like Robert Sarver, that’s acting in that manner, can continue to represent us—that’s bulls—,” Green continued. “You can’t continue to represent way more people than yourself with those views.”
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