The NBA on Tuesday suspended Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver for one year and fined him $10 million after an investigation uncovered racist and sexist conduct in the workplace, authorities said.
The NBA said to represent the team in any way, participate in any team business or basketball operations, or play any role in the league's governance; the league's Investigation was sparked by a Nov. 4 ESPN story chronicling long-standing allegations of racism and misogyny within Phoenix's basketball operation.
The NBA commissioned a New York-based law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to lead the Sarver investigation, and investigators interviewed 320 people, including current and former team employees.
The Investigation found that Sarver, who has been the franchise's managing partner for 18 years, "on at least five occasions" repeated "the N-word when counting statements by others."
He was also found to have "engaged in unfair conduct toward female employees, made many comments related to sex in the workplace, made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of female employees and other women," the NBA found.
Silver, the league leader since early 2014, might be best known for the action he took months into the job when he banned then-Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life over a series of racist comments he made. by Southern California real estate mogul.
All the facts, circumstances, and context brought to light by the exhaustive Investigation of this period of 18 years and our commitment to upholding the standards in the workplace of the NBA", Silver continued.
Sarver disagreed with some aspects of the NBA report.
"Good leadership requires responsibility".
I'm sorry to cause this pain and these mistakes.
My ability to learn and grow as we continue to build a work \for diversity, inclusion, and giving back to the community.
"As the NBA acknowledged, we fully cooperated with the NBA investigation, which spanned eighteen years, including encouraging current and former employees to participate," the management group said.
Historical issues have been addressed recently, including significant improvements to our workplace compliance program."
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