LeBron James He detailed his disappointment with the NBA penalty for Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, writing “Dorina definitely got it wrong” in a series of social media posts on Wednesday.
Sarver was banned from the NBA for one year and fined $10 million after the league on Tuesday released its findings from a 10-month independent investigation into allegations of workplace abuse during Sarver’s nearly decade-long tenure as a managing partner of the Suns. two decades.
behavior. I love this league and deeply respect our leadership. But this is not true. There is no place for misogyny, sexism and racism in any workplace. It doesn’t matter if you own the team or play with it. We set our union as an example of our values and this is not the case.
– LeBron James (@KingJames) September 14, 2022
Earlier Wednesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver held a news conference in New York after the league’s board of governors met and addressed concerns he sent from the player base, which is roughly 75% black.
Among the array of allegations first reported by ESPN last November and confirmed by an investigation by law firms Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Sarver has, on at least five occasions, repeated the N-word when listing statements from others.
“I’ve talked to some guys,” Silver said Wednesday. “These were private conversations. I’ll leave it to the players to talk directly about how they feel.”
Silver continued to describe his conversations with the players as “disheartening” because, he said, “I think these players see that we continue to deal with these issues.”
Later on Wednesday, Tamica Trimaglio, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, released a statement saying that “Sarver’s reported actions and behavior are outrageous and have no place in our sport or any workplace for that matter.”
Trimaglio added that she “has briefed Adam Silver on my position regarding my thoughts on the extent of the penalty, and I strongly believe that Mr. Sarver should not hold a management position within our league again.”
James’ statement reflects his stance from 2014 when the league was investigating alleged racial misconduct from Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
“There is no place for Donald Sterling in the NBA – there is no place for him,” James said before the Miami Heat playoff against Charlotte. “…They should take a stand. They should be very aggressive with it. I don’t know what it will be, but we can’t have that in our league.”
James spent the latter half of his NBA career, entering his 20th season this fall, as a public advocate for social change.
From a personal point of view, Silver said he was “in disbelief” when he was told of Sarver’s excesses, but several players and coaches in the league he spoke to found the situation all too familiar.
“Look, I think it’s no secret that this is a league where almost 80 percent of our players are black. More than half of our coaches are black,” Silver said. “I will say that perhaps none of them have been as shocked as me, as I live their life, and I don’t think they’re reading that saying, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening.'”
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