Adam Silver doesn't know how to measure the punishment the Phoenix Suns received for making racist and misogynist comments compared to what would happen to a team or league employee.
At the conclusion of the league's fall meeting of its Board of Governors, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that there are particular rights for the owner of an NBA team.
It came a day after the league announced a $10 million fine and a one-year suspension for Sarver, who was accused of racism and misogynistic behavior during his 17 years as owner.
I don't know how to measure that against a job, but I have certain authority by virtue of this organization, and that's what I did. I am not allowed to take away his team. There is a chance that someone's team could be taken away from them in this league. I decided that it didn't rise to that level because it is very involved.
The consequences are severe on Mr. sarver. It's hard to compare someone who commits an inappropriate act in the workplace to someone who commits a huge public issue in their life. There is no neat answer except to own property. The rights that come with owning an NBA team, how that's set up within our constitution, what it would take to remove that team from his control are different than holding a job.
The NBA's punishment was announced Tuesday along with the release of the report by the law firm. During his time with the Suns and Mercury, he used the N-word at least five times.
The league found instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees, including sex-related comments and inappropriate comments on employees' appearances.
At several points Wednesday, Silver referred to the fact that he was aware of more than what was publicly shared in the report, and that shaped his views on the situation in a way he was unable to share due to a confidentiality agreement.
Over the last 18 years in the Suns' organization, Silver said, he was in disbelief. I was sad and disappointed. I would like to apologize to the former and current employees of the Phoenix Suns for what they had to go through. There isn't an excuse for it. It was addressed by us. Since we issued those findings, I've been following what's been said. The conduct is not right.
While we issued this report, in the process of doing the investigation, the outside counsel who conducted this review committed to confidentiality to anyone who wanted it. I'm able to look at the totality of the circumstances surrounding those events because I have access to information that the public does not. The person who has to make the ultimate judgement about what is a fair outcome is me.
There was a specific line in the statement announcing the report and the suspension that Silver was asked about.
Silver only said he accepted the findings of the committee that conducted the investigation when asked if he agreed with that statement. Two of the five people on that committee were black.
Silver accepted their work. To follow what we believe is appropriate process here, to bring in a law firm, to have them spend nine months on this, to do the extensive kinds of interviews they can, I'm not able to put myself in their shoes." We have done the work they have done.
Is that correct? I get a factual record and then I make determinations based on that. I agree with what they found.
Silver said that the findings were relevant to the severity of the punishment.
It was relevant. If they had found that his conduct was motivated by race, that would have had an impact on the outcome here. That isn't what they found.
At no time during the investigation did Silver discuss the possibility of the Suns being sold.
Silver said that he allowed the investigation to unfold after he spoke with Robert Sarver. We did not judge it.
The NBA's handling of the situation involving former LA Clippers owner DonaldSterling in the wake of audio recordings of him making racist comments has been compared to the investigation into Sarver.
Silver does not agree with the idea of comparing the two situations.
I think what we saw was blatant racist conduct directed at a few people. It's hard to know what's in a person's mind or heart.
Is that correct? First of all, we're looking at the totality of circumstances over an 18-year period in which he's owned these teams, and ultimately we made a judgement, that in the circumstances in which he owned them It's beyond the pale in every way to use language and behave that way, but that it was completely different than what we saw in that earlier case.
The $10 million fine was the maximum the league could impose. The one-year suspension could have been longer but Silver decided to make it a full year.
He said that Sarver had taken complete accountability and seemed remorseful.
Silver said that Sarver will be on notice in the future.
He's on notice in regards to future behavior. He's aware of that." Most of the inappropriate activity goes back a long time, if you look at the report's chronology.
Every day is different. We're not out of the book. The book on these incidents has been closed. There is no question that he will be scrutinized in regards to his behavior and speech.
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