WEBVTT - Robert Sarver Is Suspended. Is That Enough? 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.760 On this episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly, the NBA suspended 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:09.840 Sons and Mercury owner Robert Sarver for one year and 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:13.480 finds him ten million dollars for workplace misconduct that included 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:18.520 racially insensitive language and unequal treatment of women. SI staffer 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:21.960 Rohan nod Kearney joins me to discuss the investigation of Sarver, 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:26.320 his punishment, and where the NBA goes from here. I'm 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.160 your host John Gonzalez from Sports Illustrated and I Heart Radio. 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:39.760 This is Sports Illustrated Weekly. Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:42.680 Robert Sarver has been suspended for one year and finds 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:46.040 ten million dollars following an investigation into Sarver after an 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:50.080 ESPN report uncovered a history of racist and sexist comments. 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:55.240 He was disrespectful to his organization, He was disrespectful to women, 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.720 He was disrespectful to African American's well in the full story. 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.400 The full picture that is painted in this report is 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:08.400 certainly damning. Rohan, Welcome back to Sports Illustrated Weekly. Thank 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.440 you for having me back on, John, It's been you know, 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.240 I wish we could be back on the show together. 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:16.400 In more auspicious circumstances. I feel like I invite you 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.960 on my podcast all the time, and yet I think 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:23.520 this is my second SI Weekly Parents your triumphant return. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:26.480 We do hear you on Open Floor. I pop on 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:30.120 their periodically this topic. I'm sure that we'll be discussing 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:32.720 on the Friday episode of Open Floor. But news broke 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.480 this week that the NBA had suspended Sons and Mercury 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:37.760 owner Robert Sarver for one year and find him ten 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.640 million dollars. This is after a month's long independent review. 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.119 They spoke with three twenty people Rohan, more than eighty 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.480 thousand documents were reviewed. They went back eighteen years and 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.920 found that Starver quote engaged in conduct that clearly violated 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:55.280 common workplace standards as reflected in team and league rules 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:59.200 and policies. This conduct included the use of racially insensitive 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:02.960 language on eque, treatment of female employees, sex related statements 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.600 and conduct, and harsh treatment of employees that on occasion 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.480 constituted bullying. In addition to the suspension and fine, Starvin 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.120 must now complete a training program focused on respect and 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:18.360 appropriate work place conduct. I think that's probably too little, 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.760 too late there. What's your reaction before we get into 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.640 the specifics of what he's alleged to do about the 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.359 terms of his punishment. I mean, I think, like everybody else, 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.799 I'm just completely shocked the NBA drop the baldness. It's 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.880 completely insignificant. The idea that he can sit there, quote unquote, 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.000 be suspended, continue to make profits off the suns of 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:41.959 this season. It's a joke, really, John, I'm when we 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.800 first had an inkling that the news was coming, the 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.120 length of the investigation led me to believe that they 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.960 were being really thorough in the event that they needed 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.640 to ban him. They needed to have all the evidence 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:55.120 at their disposal, and it seems like they have plenty 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.960 of smoking guns here. I think the NBAS punishment was 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:00.440 a joke. I think their statement was a joke. I 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.120 know we're gonna get into the incident specifically here, but 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.399 in this statement alone, it says we don't believe these 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:10.600 statements were racially motivated something along those lines. It's just pathetic. 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:12.840 I don't know how the NBA drew the conclusions they 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:17.200 drew from the investigation that they conduct. Here's just a 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.880 partial list of stuff that he said or did around 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.120 women and even male employees told a pregnant woman, Hey, 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:25.040 you can't really have the same kind of career you're 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:27.280 gonna have because you know your child needs a mother. 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:29.640 We're gonna have to take you off this event. Talked 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:33.680 about sex acts, talked about condoms, talked about the size 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:37.280 of his own penis, made comments about the physical appearance 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:42.000 of female staffers, including the son's dancers, dropped his pants 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:46.120 and his underwear while a physical trainer was performing a 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:50.400 fitness examination on him, and the report concluded that he 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:55.560 did none of that out of racial or gender based animus. 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:58.680 I'm really shocked by this too, because they have a 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.280 preponderance of evidence and then they land on a one 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.680 year suspension and a ten million dollar fine, which obviously inequitable. 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.080 Among the key findings, on at least five occasions, Sarver 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:11.280 used the N word. Sarver engaged in instances of inequitable 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.800 conduct towards female employees, made many sexualated comments in the workplace, 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.520 and made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of female 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.000 employees and other women. On several occasions, he engaged in 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.320 inappropriate physical conduct toward male employees, and he engaged in 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.240 demeaning and harsh treatment of employees included by yelling and 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.200 cursing at them. That's a lot. And then somehow they 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.440 land on a one year suspension and like you know, 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:35.280 the NBA fancies itself, Rohan, is this really progressive institution 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:38.120 that's supposed to be tolerant, at least relative to other 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:42.960 sports entities, and yet when it comes to meeting out 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:49.000 punishment or standing up to ownership specifically, it fails consistently. 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.440 And this is a really gross violation of it. I mean, 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:54.680 I think it's so stark too, because part of the 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:59.200 reason that Adam Silver gained let's call it notoriety or 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.520 favor were among sports fans was when he came in 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.360 how he handled the Donald Sterling situation. And this feels 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.560 like the exact opposite of that. That's really kind of 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:12.120 the elephant in the room is what what has changed 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:14.880 or what has made this different than the Donald Sterling situation. 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:16.600 And I think that is something that's going to be 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:19.800 reported on and discussed in the coming months because it 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:21.600 just doesn't make any sense. I when you hit the 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.000 nail on the head, that was very early in his 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.800 tenure as commissioner. That was if you think about it 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:31.560 before we've really had a cultural moment that involved consequences 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.640 for people, right. I mean, you know, I remember after 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:39.039 the George Floyd murder where it seemed like corporations were 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.159 being held to some kind of different standard and it 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.400 being people were feeling forced to change a little bit, 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.960 and it was all very awkward and clunky and uncomfortable 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.800 and kind of revealing of how these things are not 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:53.440 really about doing what's right. It's about kind of following 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.760 the money, your public pressure, etcetera. Adam Silver was ahead 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:03.159 of all that with Donald Sterling effective immediately, I am 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:09.479 banning Mr Sterling for life from any association with the 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:14.680 Clippers organization or the NBA. And now it just feels 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.520 like we're kind of reverting back to an even worse time, 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:19.000 even the fact that he could only get a one 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.200 year suspension and attendingly all fine. I don't know if 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.359 there's some kind of legal analysis that needs to be 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:29.520 done here and there's something that's protecting Robert Sarver, or 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:32.520 maybe he even knows something that's protecting him, But it's 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.280 it's very strange in kind of this time where it 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.440 people are at least pretending to have a heightened sensitivity, 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:41.919 whether they have it or not, that the NBA is 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.640 whiffing so hard here. If you think about it, John, 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.120 Let's say this news came out about Adam Silver. Let's 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:50.720 say we found out hypothetically, of course Adam Silver used 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:55.480 the N word five times, Adam Silver's emailing porn to people, etcetera. 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.640 There is not a chance that Adam Silver keeps his 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.800 job in that situation. It's not a chance anybody any 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.000 other level of the NBA keeps their job if they're 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:07.560 doing the things that the NBA found out Robert Sarver 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.360 was doing. So the fact that he's able to continue 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:12.400 to own the team, it just doesn't make any sense. 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.000 It doesn't. And you hit on something there earlier about 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:20.080 consequences and how it felt like we had reached a point, 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.840 especially with Donald Sterling, where there would be consequences for 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:27.320 actions that were this agreed, just especially for privileged, white 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:30.680 rich men who previously didn't have to face those consequences, 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.440 and now it feels like we're going in the other direction. 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:34.360 I want to get into some of these specifics here 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:38.880 because they are really over the top. Hundred individuals Rohan 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.520 one hundred witness, Sarver statements or actions that were deemed inappropriate. 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.200 Of the five times Sarver repeatedly used the N word, 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.200 four came after he was told by black and white 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:50.560 employees to stop doing it and that he shouldn't do 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:52.840 it even when he's just repeating somebody. He told a 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:56.920 female employee that women cry too much. Twelve witnesses recall 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:00.200 Sarver making a reference at an all employee meeting to 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:04.480 a specific sex act. Nineteen witnesses recall him talking about 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:07.720 a specific type of condom. There's even more graphics stuff 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.320 about him walking into a room naked and telling a 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.560 male and a female employee who were in the room 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:15.240 at the time, that the woman should leave the room 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:17.920 because she had never seen anything like that before, and 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:21.040 on and on and on. Donald Sterling was rightly pushed 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.720 out for things that were not dissimilar to this. Now 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.360 there was a tape, so maybe that went a certain 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:31.280 distance towards pushing him out. But it absolutely floors me 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.080 that Robert Sarver, ostensibly, unless they decided to push him 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.400 out during this one year's suspension, will be able to 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.920 return to business as usual in one year's time. And 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.440 let's not forget that he presided over a culture of 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:48.079 this stuff going back eighteen years. This investigation found that 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:51.640 other misconduct, racial insensitivity, in mistreatment of female employees, and 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:56.600 appropriate comments on sex or sexual orientation spanned almost two decades, 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.679 and for that two decades of conduct, he gets one 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.240 year off. I don't understand how that makes any sense 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:08.800 to anyone anywhere. It's really really baffling. You know, I 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:10.839 wish I had pulled it up before we record it, 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:13.760 but I'm sure, I promise you the songs again. There 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:15.760 was that era, and I know it's kind of a 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:18.760 an uncomfortable flashpoint to bring up, but there was that time, 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.160 and there was no NBA going on. It was before 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:24.200 the bubble. You know, there's protests in the street every 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:35.320 day or every single NBA team, I think literally every 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:37.240 single one except the Knicks, who maybe did it last. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.439 Every single NBA team released a statement, Oh, we condemn 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.079 racism and all its forms, we stand against racism, blah 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.800 blah blah. And now you're just seeing how empty all 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.160 those things are. And I think the NBA has to 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.880 accept that whatever gestures they make are going to feel 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:55.480 empty now. You know, whatever gestures they make, corporate decisions 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:57.880 that they make that say, Hey, you know, we really 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.360 want women involved in our game. You know, the NBA 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:02.760 really wants a woman to be a head coach of 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:05.120 an NBA team. What woman would ever be the head 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:08.079 coach of the Phoenix Suns listening to some of these 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.920 comments robertsrver would make, Again, it's a weird situation. They're 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.280 one of the few teams that has a black GM 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.960 and a black coach. But how do they feel seeing 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.640 these statements throwing Roberts Harbor is saying things like this 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:22.520 all the time. I do think there's a degree that, Frankly, 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.560 I think people in and around the league, in and 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.240 around society are used to people of Robert Harber's stature 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.960 acting this way and getting away with it. I think 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.000 that's part of the problem here is we've kind of 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:37.320 created an environment where people with that much money can 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:40.600 live without consequences. But this was an opportunity for the 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.680 NBA to begin to change that paradigm even a little bit. Yeah, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:47.080 I mean it's quite clear that the hypocrisy has been 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:50.520 laid bare, not just in this instance but previously. At 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.560 my last job, I did a story where I dug 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.400 through FBC records over five years to look at the 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.040 political donations of NBA owners, and this was during the 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.880 Black Lives Matter protests, the George Floyd murder protests, and 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:04.880 you have Black Lives Matter on the court, and you have, 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:08.040 as you mentioned, all teams issuing statements and saying that 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.040 they want to stop Hay and they stand with the players, 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.360 but they have repeatedly shown through their actions that they 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:14.960 do not. Because you can say, oh, we stand with 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.960 the players, and we want policing reform, and we want 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:21.200 social justice and we want racial equality, but you have 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:24.839 say owners, the predominant number of owners in the NBA 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:28.640 donating to a Republican Party, heavy amounts of money that 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.120 enforce or put into place policies that are in direct 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:36.080 conflict with what they're saying. For example, the Orlando Magic 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:39.120 issued a statement as well after George Floyd, and then 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:42.440 a couple of weeks later, the DeVos family donated two 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:45.960 hundred thousand dollars to the Republican Party and Trump, which 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.559 is a group that was directly fighting the George Floyd 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.360 Justice and Policing Act that was put forth by Karen 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:54.560 Bass that got stalled in the Senate. So you can say, oh, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.280 we want to stop. Hey, we've got Black Lives Matter 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.000 on the court, but the actual policies that your support 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.680 are in direct contrast and conflict with what you're saying. 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.400 So the lip service is really ridiculous here, and we're 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:10.880 seeing it again. I want to bring up the money 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.440 component here because I think it's important. The NBA says 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.520 it will donate his fine two organizations that are dedicated 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:19.000 to addressing race and gender based issues in and out 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:22.320 of the workplace. Here again, pretty gross lip service because 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:25.520 that's the maximum amount permitted by the NBA constitution and 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.360 by laws. And it sounds like a lot, right, except 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.960 the team is worth one point eight billion. Various reports 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:36.520 peg Starver's net worth at eight hundred million. This season alone, 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:40.280 Jay Crowder, Michail Bridges, Chris Paul, DeAndre Ayton, and Devin 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:42.480 Booker will all make more than ten million dollars, and 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:47.200 Landry Shammitt and Dario Sarich will make almost ten million dollars. 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.600 My whole point here is that Starver can afford this right, 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.400 This doesn't hurt him in any meaningful way. Sitting out 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:55.840 a year does not hurt him in any meaningful way. 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.000 And on top of that, according to woj and Baxter 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.680 Homes of ESPN and Starver may have cooperated with the investigation, 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:05.520 but he was quote unaccepting of the idea that he 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:08.200 deserved a one year suspension and a ten million dollar fine. 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:12.679 So not only are these punishments insufficient, not only are 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:16.040 these punishments not painful to him in any meaningful way. 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.360 It doesn't look like it's registered at all. He doesn't 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:23.079 think that he deserved any of this. He's long been 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.040 known as kind of one of the worst owners in 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:26.960 the league. I mean, that's just do in large parts 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:28.600 of the way he's doing his team, which has often 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.840 been cheap. Of course, there was the famous Kevin Arnovit's 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.120 story that he wants, let I think, let a goat 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:38.560 defecate in his general manager's office. Just clearly out of 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:43.959 touch with reality. I know multiple former Phoenix Suns players. 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.200 None of this surprised any of them. When the story 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.400 came out from back to around, it was like, oh, yeah, 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:51.800 that sounds about right. They didn't get everything in the report, 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:54.000 They just got what people were willing to tell them, 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.080 because I know that there were so much more. Obviously, 0:13:57.120 --> 0:13:59.080 the NBA is not who he should be looking to 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.200 ultimately to saw all these kind of great, bigger societal issues. 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.360 I think that they bear some responsibility, especially because they've 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:07.960 kind of thrown themselves into this public arena and try 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:11.160 to position themselves as a league that is kind of 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:13.920 on the forefront of these issues that cares about things 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:18.320 like social justice, racial inequality, etcetera. But that just makes 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:20.960 it all the more shocking to me that you know, 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:22.800 you talk to me when they say, well, couldn't you 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:25.600 find out stuff like this about any owner or any 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.920 of these workplaces? Some kind of utopia? Maybe not, But 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.880 when you're kind of given a softball like this one, 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:33.840 like a meatball right over the heart of the plate, 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:38.640 given all this evidence, so many past workers willing to 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.920 speak out, you're just giving such an easy opportunity to 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.680 get rid of the guy that it sounds silly, but 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:47.560 it really does make you almost want to put your 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:49.920 conspiracy hat on, like what's going on here that they 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:52.040 can't get rid of this guy when they have all 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.560 this evidence that he's a terrible person. And I can't 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.840 stress enough that if any other person at any other 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.640 level of the NBA is done half the things Robert 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:03.800 Sarver's accused. If there's no way they're keeping their job 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.880 and holding your owners to above consequence, I think is 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:12.600 a terrible precedent to set. Yeah. Not surprisingly, as I mentioned, 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.720 ESPN reported that the punitive part of the process became 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:20.480 largely acrimonious, with the Sarver pushing back. Quite clearly, when 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:23.400 you're an NBA owner, unless you're Donald Sterling, you know 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:25.200 you can get away with a lot of these things. 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:27.560 Although I wonder where do you think this ends up? 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:31.320 Because Al Sharpton and various organizations weighed in on this 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.800 and we're really up in arms about this being insufficient. 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:38.040 Do you think over the next year that behind the 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:40.920 scenes they are pushing him to sell or do you 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.480 anticipate that any year's time, Robert Sarver, despite having done 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.080 all of this that we outlined over the last almost 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:51.960 two decades, this isn't just like limited isolated behavior, but 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.640 a pattern over two decades. Do you think we'll see 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:58.680 him back in the NBA. I don't have a lot 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:00.640 of faith that he's going to be pushed out, only 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:05.160 because as you mentioned one, he's really stubborn. He he 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.040 didn't want to accept this punishment. He didn't want to 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:10.200 accept the fine. I'm sure he would welcome a legal 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.400 fight at this point. Also the fact that again they 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.120 had all this evidence didn't try to kick him out 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:16.560 right away. I do think there's gonna be a lot 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.120 of public pressure, and I don't think that this is 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.520 going to go away. You know, whenever Adam Silver's next 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:23.800 media availabilities, for example, he's going to be asked a 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:26.200 lot of questions about this. I think everybody in this 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.280 room would agree that if any of us had said 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:30.320 or done even a small percentage of the things that 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:32.960 Robert Sarver has been shown to have said and done, 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.960 we would be fired. Why should there be a different 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:37.640 standard for the owner of an NBA team than there 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:42.200 would be for everybody who works in this league? Fair question. 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:46.400 I'd only say there are particular rights here of someone 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:50.040 who owns an NBA team as to some as opposed 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.120 to somebody who's an employee. I don't have a lot 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.240 of faith that he's going to be pushed out, but 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.040 I do think that the public pressure will consider it amount. 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.800 I mean, you have former Sons employees tweeting about how 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.320 upset they were and how long the process was the 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.239 NBA made them relive all these traumas dragged them through 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:09.679 all these interviews. I mean, this investigation took many, many months. 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:12.920 I think those people aren't going to just remain quiet 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.000 now and kind of wipe their hands in and say, oh, well, 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.199 he's been suspended for only one year. So I do 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:20.640 think there'll be hopefully more stories, hopefully more public pressure, 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.640 because I don't think the NBA should just be able 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.200 to kind of wipe their hands clean of this. Yeah, 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:27.960 well I don't. I don't think they'll be able to. 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:30.199 As you mentioned, this is a topic that is not 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:32.359 going away. A lot of people like us will be 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.680 asking the NBA and Adam Silver about this certainly over 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:39.000 the next year. Uh. Listen to him on Open Floor, 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.639 read him on SI dot com. Rohan Canny, thank you 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:55.399 for this any time, John. Sports Illustrated Weekly is a 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.720 production of Sports Illustrated and I Heart Radio. For more 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.720 podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:05.560 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. And 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:08.160 for more of Sports Illustrated, its best stories and podcasts, 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:12.160 visit SI dot com. This episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.800 was produced by Jordan Rozsieri, Jessica Armoski and Isaac Lee, 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:19.439 who was also our sound engineer. Our senior producers are 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.800 Dan Bloom and Harry sward Out. Our executive producers are 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:26.399 Scott Brody and me John Gonzalez. Our theme song is 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:27.320 by Nolan Schneider.