Chris Paul, the Phoenix Suns all-star guard who led his team to the NBA Western Conference final is bitterly disappointed in the NBA’s punishment of Suns managing partner Robert Sarver for racist and misogynist comments which became known after a lengthy investigation.
Sarver was suspended from the league for a year and fined $10 million for his repeated use of N-word and other acts. Paul said Wednesday that is far from enough.
“I am of the view that the sanctions fell short in truly addressing what we can all agree was atrocious behavior. My heart goes out to all of the people that were affected,” Paul wrote on Twitter.
Paul said he was “horrified and disappointed” by what the investigation disclosed.
“This conduct especially towards women is unacceptable and must never be repeated.”
The NBA released results of the investigation on Tuesday, and its findings included that Sarver:
-On at least five occasions during his tenure with the Suns/Mercury organization, repeated the N-word when recounting the statements of others.
•Engaged in instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees, made many sex-related comments in the workplace, made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of female employees and other women, and on several occasions engaged in inappropriate physical conduct toward male employees.
•Engaged in demeaning and harsh treatment of employees, including by yelling and cursing at them.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James also took to Twitter to say, “Our league definitely got this wrong.”
“I don’t need to explain why. There is no place in this league for that kind of behavior.
“I love this league and I deeply respect our leadership. But this isn’t right. There is no place for misogyny, sexism, and racism in any workplace. Don’t matter if you own the team or play for the team. We hold our league up as an example of our values and this aint it.”
“Horrible was also in the statement released by National Basketball Players Association executive director Tamika Tremaglio.
“I have made my position known to Adam Silver regarding my thoughts on the extent of the punishment, and strongly believe that Mr. Sarver should never hold a managerial position within our league again,” she said.
Forced to explain his decision in a press conference after just releasing statement on Tuesday, Silver said Wednesday,
According to the NBA, “The investigation made no finding that Mr. Sarver’s workplace misconduct was motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”
I think if [investigators] 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. But that’s not what they found,” Silver said.
“I don’t have the right to take away his team. 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.”
