Robert Sarver

Adam Silver Addresses Suspension Of Suns’ Owner

September 14th, 2022 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

The law firm that conducted the investigation into Suns owner Robert Sarver saved him a harsher penalty by determining that his use of slurs “was not motivated by racial animus,” writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

Speaking after today’s Board of Governors meeting, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters that he would have imposed more serious sanctions against Sarver if not for that finding. Sarver was suspended for one year and fined $10MM following a nearly year-long investigation of his workplace behavior.

“I think if they had made findings that, in fact, his conduct was motivated by racial animus, absolutely that would have had an impact on the ultimate outcome here,” Silver said. “But that’s not what they found.”

Silver drew a distinction between Sarver’s actions and those of former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned for life and fined $2.5MM when his racist comments were brought to light in 2014. The commissioner could have imposed a longer suspension for Sarver, but the $10MM fine is the maximum allowed under league rules. Silver said there were no discussions with the Board of Governors about forcing Sarver to sell the team.

Sarver also cooperated with the investigation and issued an apology for his actions once the findings were announced. Sterling’s case was more contentious, and he eventually filed a $1 billion federal lawsuit against the NBA.

“This case is very different,” Silver said. “It’s not that one was captured on tape and the other isn’t. … Mr. Sarver ultimately acknowledged his behavior.”

Working in Sarver’s favor, Silver added, were several anonymous details that couldn’t be included in the investigative report that was released Tuesday, along with positive interviews with people that Sarver has worked with in his 18 years of owning the Suns and the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA.

“There were these terrible things,” Silver said. “There are also many, many people with very positive things to say about him through this process. And ultimately, I took all of that into account in making the decision that the one-year suspension plus the fine was appropriate.”

Silver confirmed that Sarver will be welcomed back to the NBA when his suspension ends in September 2023. However, he said the league will be watching Sarver closely once he’s reinstated.

“I don’t have the right to take away his team,” Silver said. “I don’t want to rest on that legal point because of course there could be a process to take away someone’s team in this league. It’s very involved, and I ultimately made the decision that it didn’t rise to that level. But to me, the consequences are severe here on Mr. Sarver.”

Also at the press conference, Silver commented on tampering investigations involving the Knicks and Sixers, saying the actions were a result of the “tick tock chronology around sort of when signings are permissible and the announcements of those signings and the information that came out about it,” tweets Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Silver said the investigations were launched by the league office and weren’t a result of complaints by rival teams (Twitter link). He added that the league hopes to resolve both cases “in the next few weeks.”

Robert Sarver Notes: Reactions, Next Steps, More

September 14th, 2022 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s decision to fine Suns owner Robert Sarver $10MM and suspend him for one year following the conclusion of the investigation into his workplace misconduct is “not nothing,” but it also feels lighter than it should have been, David Aldridge of The Athletic contends.

Aldridge, Sam Amick of The Athletic, and Kurt Helin of NBC Sports are among the writers who expressed confusion about the investigation’s conclusion that it was impossible to determine whether Sarver’s comments and behavior were “motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”

Sarver shouldn’t get to hide behind excuses about his sophomoric sense of humor being misunderstood, Helin writes, while Amick says the Suns owner was “routinely terrible” to women in addition to being “racially insensitive at best and outright racist at worst.”

If the NBA wants to avoid having the situation in Phoenix repeat itself within another franchise, the league should set up more checks and balances in its relationship with its teams, Amick argues. Amick also believes the NBA needs to be responsible for some of the “watchdog work” that the media has shouldered in recent years in exposing some of the league’s most toxic workplaces in Dallas and Phoenix.

Here are several more notes and reactions on the Sarver situation:

While Sarver should feel fortunate to retain ownership of the Suns, his reported resistance to the idea that he deserved a $10MM fine and one-year suspension is an indication that he hasn’t learned much from the process, says Chris Herring of SI.com. Herring suggests that the league should have implemented a zero-tolerance policy for Sarver going forward in order to “further incentivize” him to legitimately change his behavior.
A number of the current and former Suns employees who have spoken to Baxter Holmes of ESPN since Tuesday were disappointed that Sarver won’t face a more severe punishment, Holmes said during an appearance on NBA Today (video link). “I had a recent message from a current staffer who said, ‘I cannot express to you how mad and disappointed people are at the spineless nature of the NBA’s decision,'” Holmes said.
While Sarver’s behavior would have cost any normal employee his job, it’s much easier to fire an employee than to take a business away from its owner, writes Michael Rosenberg of SI.com. Trying to force Sarver out as the Suns’ owner would’ve meant a long legal battle for the NBA with a “murky chance” of winning, Rosenberg adds.
If the NBA had tried to force Sarver out, his side would’ve almost certainly responded with litigation, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, who observes that the discovery process was something the league and the other 29 team owners likely wanted to avoid.
Sarver will work with the NBA to appoint an interim governor who will oversee the Suns during Sarver’s one-year suspension, sources tell Holmes (Twitter link).

Pacific Notes: Sarver, Ayton, Crowder, Kings, Reaves

September 13th, 2022 at 1:56pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the NBA’s announcement that Suns owner Robert Sarver would be suspended for one year and fined $10MM following an investigation into his workplace conduct, the team issued a series of statements this afternoon, including one attributed to Sarver, as Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports relays (via Twitter).

“While I disagree with some of the particulars of the NBA’s report, I would like to apologize for my words and actions that offended our employees,” Sarver said. “I take full responsibility for what I have done. I am sorry for causing this pain, and these errors in judgment are not consistent with my personal philosophy or my values.

“I accept the consequences of the NBA’s decision. This moment is an opportunity for me to demonstrate a capacity to learn and grow as we continue to build a working culture where every employee feels comfortable and valued.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Within the second part of his Q&A with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (subscription required), Suns general manager James Jones said that the team is on the same page as center Deandre Ayton (“the contract stuff is behind us”) and forward Jae Crowder. Crowder posted a cryptic tweet earlier in the offseason in which he stated it was “time for a change,” but Jones dismissed that as “noise” and said the Suns and Crowder are “good.”
It has been over a month since Quinn Cook agreed to sign with the Kings and nearly two months since the team reached an agreement with KZ Okpala, and neither deal is official yet. According to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link), both Cook and Okpala are still expected to be in camp with the team, but roster situations are fluid at this time of year, Anderson notes, so it’s possible that could change.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves spoke to Shams Charania of Stadium (video link) about his path to the NBA, playing with LeBron James, and his willingness to play whatever role the team asks of him in 2022/23.

Suns’ Robert Sarver Fined $10MM, Suspended One Year

September 13th, 2022 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has concluded its investigation into the alleged workplace misconduct of Suns owner Robert Sarver and has announced in a press release that Sarver has been suspended for one year and fined $10MM for engaging in behavior that “clearly violated common workplace standards.”

According to the NBA, the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz – which led the independent investigation – interviewed 320 individuals, including current and former Suns employees, and examined more than 80,000 documents.

The firm found that Sarver had used racially insensitive language in the workplace, including using the N-word when recounting other people’s statements on at least five occasions.

The investigation also confirmed that the Suns’ owner engaged in inequitable treatment of female employees, made “many” sex-related comments in the workplace – including inappropriate comments about female employees’ physical appearances – and treated team employees in a “demeaning and harsh” manner.

The investigation into Sarver’s behavior began last November following the publication of an ESPN report, which contended that the Suns owner used racially inappropriate language and engaged in inappropriate and misogynistic behavior, creating a toxic workplace. The full report from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz directly addresses many of the specific allegations made in that ESPN article.

The $10MM fine that Sarver faces is the maximum allowed by the NBA’s constitution and by-laws. That money will be donated to organizations committed to addressing race- and gender-based issues in and outside the workplace, according to the league.

During his one-year suspension – which also applies to his involvement with his WNBA franchise, the Phoenix Mercury – Sarver won’t be permitted to attend any NBA or WNBA games. He also can’t be present at team facilities or be involved in any way with his franchises’ business or basketball operations. Additionally, he’ll be required to completed a training program related to appropriate workplace conduct.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Sarver’s ban from the Suns’ business and basketball operations comes at a time when the team is facing some key contract decisions and has crossed the luxury tax line for the first time in over a decade.

While it’s a severe punishment for Sarver, there’s no indication that he’ll be required to sell the franchise, as former Clippers owner Donald Sterling was in 2014 when recordings surfaced of him making racist comments. Within today’s press release, the NBA stated that investigators “made no finding that Sarver’s workplace misconduct was motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”

Although the NBA said Sarver “cooperated fully” with the investigation, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Baxter Holmes (Twitter link) that he was “unaccepting” of the idea that he deserved to be suspended for one year and fined $10MM. “The punitive part of the process became largely acrimonious,” Woj writes.

Adam Silver Unhappy With Durant Situation

July 12th, 2022 at 10:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

NBA commissioner Adam Silver isn’t happy about Kevin Durant‘s trade request after signing an extension last season, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes.

Silver said that players need to “meet their end of the bargain” after a franchise provides them with long-term security.

“This needs to be a two-way street,” Silver said. “Teams provide enormous security and guarantees to players, and the expectation in return is that they’ll meet their end of the bargain. There’s always conversations that go on behind closed doors between players and representatives and teams, but we don’t like to see players requesting trades and we don’t like to see it playing out the way it is.”

Silver said there will be negotiations with the Players’ Association regarding possible remedies to discourage players from seeking a trade after signing multi-year contracts, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets.

“Its one of those issues that as we move into this collective bargaining cycle – we intend to discuss with our players association and see if there are remedies for this…We don’t want to see it playing out the way it is now,” he said.

Silver also addressed a number of other topics after the Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday:

With load management increasing every season, Silver would be in favor of rewarding players contractually for playing more often. “I’m all in favor of guaranteed contracts,” he said. “But maybe that on top of your typical guaranteed contracts, some incremental money should be based on number of games played and results of those games.”
He’s pleasantly surprised that league revenue topped $10 billion for the first time and basketball-related income reached a record $8.9 billion. “The numbers did surprise me to a certain degree because it exceeded projections, and the projections represent where we think our business is going,” Silver said. “I think it’s quite remarkable from where we came 2 1/2 years ago.”
The league is nearing “the last stage” of its investigation into the conduct of Suns owner Robert Sarver, Reynolds tweets.
Symptomatic persons will still test for COVID, but Silver could also see “pre-COVID protocols” becoming more of the norm again, Reynolds adds in another tweet.
Silver favors the age limit for the draft dropping from 19 to 18, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets, and is “optimistic” that it could happen during the next collective bargaining cycle.

Pacific Notes: Suns, Sarver, Westbrook, Clippers

June 8th, 2022 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

An outbreak of COVID-19 may help explain the Suns‘ shocking loss to the Mavericks in Game 7 of their second-round series, according to Sam Amick and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Six members of the organization, including one player, returned positive tests either late in the series or a day after the 123-90 defeat.

Assistant coach Bryan Gates tested positive following Game 6 and had to sit out the final game, the authors add, while some players said they weren’t feeling well before Game 7. The risk of COVID transmission prevented the Suns from having their traditional in-person exit interviews, which were replaced by a Zoom session involving the entire team.

The incident raises concerns that Phoenix wasn’t following league guidelines for testing. The Suns insist that all protocols were adhered to, although they declined to talk to Amick and Vardon for the story. A league spokesman said there’s “no evidence” of any rules violations by players or staff members.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

An independent investigation of Suns owner Robert Sarver involving workplace misconduct is nearing its end, NBA commissioner Adam Silver tells Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “It’s a complex investigation. There are hundreds of people who are involved and need to be interviewed,” Silver said. “And we also want to make sure we protect the rights of everyone involved. So these things by nature, I know what frustrates people, do seem to take a lot of time, but we’re certainly getting very close to the end.”
The Lakers have shifted their public statements about Russell Westbrook over the past two months and now seem resigned to having him on the roster next season, notes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. Darvin Ham talked to Westbrook about the need to sacrifice for the good of the team, but Goon points out that Westbrook is in a position to undermine the first-time head coach if he doesn’t heed Ham’s advice.
Former Wisconsin forward Vitto Brown, who played in Spain this season, was among the players at the Lakers‘ free agent mini-camp this week, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
The Clippers‘ new Intuit Dome, which is set to open in 2024, will feature the largest ever double-sided halo display in an arena setting, according to Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register.

Suns’ James Jones Talks Ayton, Luxury Tax, Draft

May 19th, 2022 at 8:05am CST by Luke Adams

Addressing reporters in his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday, Suns general manager James Jones didn’t make any guarantees about whether center Deandre Ayton will remain with the team long-term, but suggested that the club wants to bring back its top restricted free agent.

“As far as free agency and those things, we’ll address them at the proper time,” Jones said, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “That happens in July, end of June, but we want to continue to keep our consistency and continuity and keep the guys that we have and continue to help those guys improve upon the things that we did this year.”

Asked during an appearance on the Burns & Gambo show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM about the Ayton situation, Jones conveyed a similar sentiment, stressing that the 23-year-old has been an important part of Phoenix’s recent success, as Jake Anderson of ArizonaSports.com relays.

“Deandre had an amazing season and he’s progressed every year and improved every year he’s been here, and so he’s a big part of what we do,” Jones said. “His future with us is something we’ll address at the proper time, which is in the future. He’s a free agent and I’ve said all along, he’s about the same things we’re about, which is winning. We’ll address it at the proper time.”

Here’s more from Jones on the Suns:

Although the season didn’t end the way the team wanted it to, Jones said it “was not a disappointment” on the whole and that the early playoff exit won’t change the way the front office operates or result in any major overhauls. “I’m not going to change my approach to team building, which is to create and construct a team that has a ton of depth, a ton of skill and great chemistry,” Jones said, according to Rankin. “We just need to be better and I think after a summer where our guys improve, we will be.”
Asked about potentially lucrative new contract extensions for Devin Booker and Cameron Johnson, Jones acknowledged that payroll increases are part of the territory for a team that has as much talent as the Suns do. “We’re focused on improving the team and those guys, they deserve the credit. They deserve the accolades and the financial rewards that come with being good players and productive players,” Jones said. “It doesn’t preclude us from doing anything. We’re not talking about a luxury tax issues or avoiding those things. That’s not something that’s going to prevent us from continuing to build this team and keep this team together.”
The Suns don’t have any 2022 draft picks, but Jones said, “If there’s an opportunity to get back into the draft, we will,” according to Rankin. Acquiring a late draft pick could be appealing to the Suns since rookie second-rounders have the lowest possible luxury-tax hit — they’re penalized at a lower rate than an undrafted rookie with the same salary.
The investigation into Suns owner Robert Sarver seems likely to be completed before next season, but Jones isn’t focused on that outcome, as Rankin relays. “It doesn’t change what we’re doing on the basketball operations,” the GM said. “Our job as execs and coaches and players is to assemble, build and lead a team to accomplish a goal of winning basketball games. That part of the job doesn’t change.”

Adam Silver Concerned About Star Players Missing Games

April 6th, 2022 at 8:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Commissioner Adam Silver spoke to the media on Wednesday following a two-day meeting of the NBA’s Board of Governors, and he said one of his primary concerns at the moment is “a trend of star players not participating in a full complement of games,” according ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

“I’m not standing here saying I have a great solution,” Silver said. “Part of the issue is injuries. One of the things we have focused on at the league office and we’re spending — we had begun to spend a lot of time on pre-pandemic — are there things we can do in terms of sharing information, resources around the league to improve best practices, rehabilitation?

“The other way we can get at it, in terms of player participation, is creating other incentives. The play-in tournament, I thought, was a beginning of creating renewed incentives for teams to remain competitive and be fighting for playoff position. It may be through in-season tournaments and changes in format where we can get at it.”

Silver also said the league could look at shortening the 82-game regular season, if necessary.

“I also have said in the past, if we have too many games, that’s something we should look at as well,” Silver said. “It’s something, as we sit down and we’re looking at new media deals and looking at a new collective bargaining agreement, we will be studying. There wasn’t any banging of the table or anything like that.

“From my discussions with players, they recognize it’s an issue, too. The style of the game has changed in terms of the impact on their bodies. I think we’ve got to constantly assess and look at a marketplace going forward and say, what’s the best way to present our product and over how long a season?”

Here are some more highlights of Silver’s press conference, courtesy of Bontemps:

Silver said there was no concrete conversation regarding Ben Simmons‘ pending arbitration to recoup lost salary from the Sixers, and the league would not be involved in the litigation process.
The league has not discussed moving the All-Star game from Utah next season despite an anti-LGBTQ law recently passing. When asked the difference between this situation and Charlotte in 2017, Silver said, in part, “Every situation is unique…I would just say I have tremendous respect for (Jazz owner) Ryan Smith. I think he stood up against this bill. We’ve joined him in opposing this bill. But we also want to be realistic, too, in terms of the impact we can have. In the case of HB2 in North Carolina, I think it was our collective view, we working with the Hornets, that we could have an impact on that legislation. I think in the case of what’s happening in Utah right now, that bill is established.”
Silver said there was no update on the investigation into Suns owner Robert Sarver‘s alleged misconduct, other than to say it’s still ongoing and “closer to the end than the beginning, but it’s hard to put a precise timeline on it right now.” He also said the league was monitoring Donnie Nelson‘s lawsuit against the Mavericks.
The commissioner reiterated that he’s pleased with the play-in tournament and expects it to stay, but it could see a few tweaks moving forward.
The league is focused on trying to eliminate “take fouls” to prevent fast breaks, and changes could come as soon as next season, but there are obstacles to that happening. “That is something, as you know, we’re very focused on and considering making a change for next season,” Silver said. “We still have some work to do with our competition committee. We’ll be meeting with the board again in July, which would be a possible time to change that rule. But as we’re seeing sort of a pretty dramatic increase in take fouls, we don’t think it’s a great part of our game. International basketball has another way of getting at it, but that is something that potentially we’d like to tweak.”

Pacific Notes: DiVincenzo, Sarver, Wiseman, Powell

March 18th, 2022 at 8:08am CST by Luke Adams

Kings guard Donte DiVincenzo is coming off his best game since being traded from Milwaukee to Sacramento at last month’s deadline. On Wednesday, facing his old Bucks team, he put up 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting (4-of-8 on threes), chipping in four rebounds and three steals.

According to James Ham of ESPN 1320 in Sacramento (Twitter link), head coach Alvin Gentry said after Wednesday’s game that there’s a good chance DiVincenzo will move permanently into the Kings’ starting lineup before the regular season is over. Gentry added that he almost made that move for Wednesday’s contest.

DiVincenzo started all 66 games he played in 2020/21 for Milwaukee, but has started just one of 31 games for the Bucks and Kings this season following his return from ankle surgery.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

A coalition of social justice activists is calling on the NBA to remove Robert Sarver as the owner of the Suns, writes Howard Beck of SI.com. The American Sports Accountability Project published a letter on its new website stating that the group is “profoundly disturbed by the reports of racism, misogyny and abusive behavior allegedly committed” by Sarver. An independent investigation into the allegations against Sarver is ongoing.
After playing three games in the G League, center James Wiseman was recalled to the NBA by the Warriors on Wednesday. He’s practicing with the team this week and could make his season debut with Golden State as early as Sunday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Clippers wing Norman Powell, who is recovering from a fractured left foot, had the boot removed from his foot this week, tweets Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. There’s still no guarantee that Powell, who last played on February 10, will be back before the regular season ends in 23 days.

Latest On Investigation Into Suns Owner Robert Sarver

March 4th, 2022 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

Wachtell Lipton, the New York-based firm conducting the independent investigation into Suns owner Robert Sarver, has now interviewed more than 300 people as part of that probe, reports Baxter Holmes of ESPN.

One key figure still hasn’t been interviewed by the lawyers leading the investigation: Sarver himself. That’s expected to happen soon, according to Holmes, who says investigators are preparing to talk to the Suns’ owner.

Back in November, Holmes published a bombshell report in which a number of current and former Suns employees described a toxic workplace culture under Sarver, who was accused of racism and misogyny. The NBA quickly announced that it was launching an independent investigation into those accusations.

According to today’s report from Holmes, employees who have been interviewed by Wachtell Lipton have “confirmed a range of published allegations while introducing others.” Some of the interviewees have spoken to investigators multiple times, and some have provided the law firm with emails supporting their claims, Holmes writes.

It remains unclear when the investigation will conclude. According to Holmes, the lawyers involved have consistently told current and former employees that they’re in the “fact-finding” stage.

Phoenix’s players and coaches certainly haven’t let the ongoing investigation distract them on the court. The Suns’ 50-12 record this season gives them a 7.5-game cushion on the NBA’s second-best team (Golden State, at 43-20).

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