Robert Sarver said the n-word while asking why he can’t say the n-word if he’s only saying the n-word because he’s quoting someone who said the n-word. Feel like a lot? There are two anecdotes of this behavior. One is from Lindsey Hunter, a former Suns head coach who was hired over former Suns player Dan Majerle in part because Sarver said “these s need an .” Hunter is Black and Majerle is not. But wait, that aside isn’t even the Lindsey Hunter story. Apparently, BobbySarvs came in the coaches’ office after a game with the Warriors, asked “how come Draymond Green gets to say .” Hunter, with a few well-placed f-bombs, told Sarver he can’t say the n-word. The other time—the time Sarver actually acknowledges as his personal Teachable Moment—came from a conversation with a player and assistant coach.
Sarver, for his part, says “the word has never been part of my vocabulary” after the assistant coach admonished him. He cops to saying it once, using that whole “quoting” defense, which (deep, long sigh) is so goddamn tired at this point. White people, if you really need a refresher, here’s Ta-Nehisi Coates saying it’s like his wife calling him ‘honey’ but other women not calling him that. It’s that simple. But apparently, according to Adam Silver, BobbySarvs racial slurred “without animus.” So it’s very different from former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his mistress he didn’t like her bringing Black people to “his” Clipper games. It doesn’t matter that Sarver said the n-word so often that it got its own special section in the NBA’s report. He said it without animus, okay? That’s what Adam Silver said.
Wikimedia Commons: cogdogblog
Ultimately, the NBA told him to go away for a year and cough up $10 million. So what? Sarver is worth $800 million according to some estimates, double what he bought the Suns for in 2004. NBA teams are starting to go in the billions, so there’s a solid chance Robert Sarver dies a billionaire decades from now. What’s Adam Silver gonna do, force Sarver to sell the team like he already did with Sterling? Silver said all the racism and misogyny was “without animus,” like a little jokey-joke, a cute little inability to read the room. Where’s the line? If the NBA doesn’t know where the line is, why try drawing one? Sounds hard.
EPSN’s Zach Lowe said on NBA Today all this stuff counts as animus. LeBron James said the NBA got this one wrong. Suns superstar, veteran leader, and top-5 point guard of all time Chris Paul said “sanctions fell short.” Adam Silver said “I don’t have the right to take away his team.” Robert Sarver, the man described in this article, still owns the Phoenix Suns and Mercury. You just won’t see him until 2023, when the NBA is banking on you forgetting about everything we just detailed.
Image: Wikimedia Commons: Mwinnog2777
Talk basketball with Chris Corlew on Twitter.