Robert Sarver is an SOB. But the Phoenix Suns owner is a complicated SOB

The important question about Robert Sarver is not whether he is guilty or innocent.

He’s guilty.

Over a span of 18 years as owner of the Phoenix Suns he has behaved in ways that were crude, obnoxious and abusive.

The evidence is abundant. He did a lot of nasty and bizarre things.

The important question is does the penalty match the crime?

Robert Sarver may already be on the way out

“Crime” here is a figure of speech.

Sarver has committed no crime, but he has inflicted emotional distress on employees who had to endure his bad behavior. He has done reputational damage to his franchise and the National Basketball Association, and forced NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to spend millions investigating him and to ultimately apologize to the world for Sarver’s misconduct.

Silver, who is highly respected in the league, is now facing criticism for imposing a penalty on Sarver of a one-year suspension and $10 million fine. Many critics are calling that a slap on the wrist.

Another view: Robert Sarver must part with the Phoenix Suns

NBA players enjoy much more wealth and institutional power than they did a few decades ago and may yet exercise their influence to press for stronger punishment and ultimately Sarver’s ouster.

In fact, given the silence so far of the NBA’s biggest stars, that may have already happened behind closed doors and we could be watching in face-saving increments Sarver’s eventual exit.

But so far this doesn’t look like a repeat of the last time the NBA jettisoned one of its owners.

This is not Donald Sterling 2.0

That was 2014 when Silver announced the ouster of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. On Tuesday, a number of Sarver critics were making the comparison.

Former Suns player Jamal Crawford called the Sarver investigation “Sterling 2.0.”

Marc J. Spears, senior NBA writer for ESPN, tweeted, “As tough as it was to do, Robert Sarver’s racism, misogyny and more (are equal to) Donald Sterling’s and very well may surpass it.”

That is perfect nonsense.

Donald Sterling’s conduct, captured on audio, went so far beyond any line of decency you didn’t need an investigation for NBA players, their union representatives and NBA sponsors and fans to react in horror.

On April 25, 2014, TMZ Sports released audio of Sterling scolding his mistress for posting on social media pictures of herself with Black athletes Magic Johnson and Matt Kemp.

What Sterling said was clearly racism

Said Sterling:

• “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with Black people. Do you have to?”

• “You can sleep with [Black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that ... and not to bring them to my games.”

• “I’m just saying, in your lousy (expletive) Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with Black people.”

• “Don’t put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games.”

This was unalloyed racism – pure poison – and clear evidence that Sterling is evil, that he detests African Americans.

It took only four days for the NBA to ban Donald Sterling from the NBA for life and fine him $2.5 million (then the NBA maximum). He still owned the team but could not associate with it in any way.

Eventually, and against his will, his wife sold the Clippers.

The case against Sarver is more complicated

When it comes to racism, the case against Sarver is far more complicated. Sarver is accused of repeating the N-word when quoting African Americans who either used it or were purported to have used it.

While he was told repeatedly that this use is improper as a white man, he didn’t heed those warnings and continued using the word in this manner. Many would call this ignorant or even racist, but it is far different in tone and tenor than maliciously calling someone the N-word or telling your girlfriend not to associate with Black people.

In terms of sexism, Sarver’s record is terrible. His comments about women have been deeply offensive. He told a pregnant employee she wouldn’t be able to do her job once she became a mother. Sarver said the employee would need to “breastfeed” her child, thus a “baby needs their mom, not their father.” His remarks made the woman cry.

He made repeated comments about sex in the workplace and commented critically about the physical appearance of female employees. He also had a reputation for browbeating men and women subordinates.

When you compile nearly two decades of whispered and written complaints against a man from all of his disgruntled employees and enemies – and Sarver had plenty – then compress them in a single story, the results are damning.

In short, Sarver is an SOB.

But like a lot of corporate titans, Sarver is a complicated SOB.

Sarver put Black men in charge years ago

Two years before the November 2021 ESPN exposé that launched the Sarver investigation, the principal owner of the Phoenix Suns began making extraordinary changes to his NBA franchise.

He turned the keys of the operation over to two of the most respected men in the NBA – James Jones and Monty Williams, men who happen to be African American.

Sarver fired himself as the team’s busybody and gave them the room to run the team their way.

James Jones, the team’s general manager, had been a long-time teammate of LeBron James, currently the greatest player to ever hold a basketball. LeBron James has no peer in the NBA. He is the face of the league and its most powerful person. He’s worth more than $1 billion.

Here’s what Lebron James says about James Jones: “I love him. He’s the greatest teammate I’ve ever had.”

Williams, Jones are among the NBA's most respected

Monty Williams made his name as a player and coach. But he particularly touched the hearts of the men who play this game by the way he dealt with the tragic death of his first wife. His calm demeanor and gracious charm have made him beloved and admired across the league.

Together James Jones and Monty William rebuilt Phoenix into a champion contender. Their operation is so admired that two of the best players in the NBA – Chris Paul and Kevin Durant – have made bids to join the Suns. Paul, of course, was successful.

In 2021 these new Suns came within two wins of claiming an NBA title. As they did, they drew the admiration of especially African American writers and broadcasters. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has been almost rapturous expressing his pride in Jones and Williams and their accomplishments.

That wouldn’t have happened without Robert Sarver.

Sarver also supported women's sports

As for women, the Robert Sarver who could insult women in the workplace with his crude and bumptious comments, was making a significant investment in women’s pro basketball when other NBA owners were bailing out.

In fact, the WNBA recognized Sarver’s commitment to the league as the only original WNBA team still under the same ownership group.

“I think it’s tremendous,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert last year. “It says so much about Robert Sarver and the rest of the management team. They’re valuing basketball at all levels in Phoenix. I’ve been out to Phoenix pre-pandemic to assess the vibe and feel and the fans. It’s just so amazing. ... Hopefully, Robert and the team can continue participating in the rising value of women’s sports and the WNBA’s place in that.”

Engelbert has gone further, calling the Phoenix Mercury a model franchise for the WNBA.

“If you’re going to expand, you have to find markets where women’s basketball will be supported, where you can build a loyal fan base and, with appropriate investment, you can make it a very successful franchise. That’s how we think about using the Mercury as a role model for how to build a franchise and sustain it for, now for them, 25 years.”

Phoenix Mercury player and basketball legend Diana Taurasi said of Sarver’s WNBA franchise: “I just think it’s a special place to be. This organization is committed to the Mercury and to winning, and those are two things that I value very strongly, that loyalty.”

Sarver stood against SB 1070, at great cost

Is Sarver a racist?

I don’t believe he is. I don’t because the memory is still fresh in my mind when Robert Sarver took a brave stand for immigrant people in Arizona by opposing Senate Bill 1070 – Arizona’s draconian immigration law.

I still remember the torrent of angry letters from Suns fans in 2010 who said they were done with the franchise after Sarver had given the green light for his team to wear their Los Suns jerseys in protest of the law.

In polling, SB 1070 enjoyed not only the strong support of Arizonans, but the American people. Those popular winds even drove then-Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl to support it. For Sarver to oppose it meant infuriating a good part of his fan base.

As reported by NPR, one Suns fan wrote on the Planet Orange message board:

“As a former Suns and NBA fan, I would suggest you go all the way and call yourselves ‘Los Soles’, move to Tucson or better yet Nogales! What gives you the right to get involved in Arizona politics? you are all ‘mercenaries’ you follow the money wherever they take you. This issue is for Arizonans, and they have spoken 70% of us did!”

There is weirdness in these allegations

There is something peculiar and underreported about the case against Robert Sarver. An unnamed member of the Suns ownership group was dishing on Sarver to ESPN. Here’s how ESPN reported it:

“‘The level of misogyny and racism is beyond the pale,’ one Suns co-owner said about Sarver. ‘It's embarrassing as an owner.’ ”

When the story broke, Sarver’s co-owners, including NFL Cardinals great Larry Fitzgerald, put out a statement, “We dispute the characterization of Mr. Sarver and the organization as racist and sexist. We support Mr. Sarver’s leadership and stand with him.”

Absent from that ownership statement was Suns vice chairman Jahm Najafi, who put out a statement that he was stunned by the ESPN revelations.

“The conduct [Sarver] is alleged to have committed has stunned and saddened me and is unacceptable.”

Najafi is a businessman involved in social justice initiatives with former NFL quarterback and civil rights icon Colin Kaepernick. In April 2021 he told the Associated Press, “I had the opportunity to meet Colin about four years ago through a mutual friend. We had dinner together and realized that our worldview was very similar – on how we think about investments, interactions, cultures and people. Because my primary activity is investments, we started looking at a number of potential investment opportunities we can do together.”

After the ESPN article broke, Najafi showed up at the Suns game in courtside seats with, who else, Colin Kaepernick.

That was a statement.

That was a political statement.

Did the NBA react appropriately? I'd say so

Whether it be the silence so far of the NBA’s biggest stars or questions about the origins of the Sarver exposé, there are a lot of lingering questions about this case.

Did the NBA react appropriately?

I would argue yes. Robert Sarver is the managing partner and lead owner of the Phoenix Suns; he’s not some flunky mid-manager. Before you work to separate someone from the business they own and built to what it is today – before you work to separate an American from his property, the rights of which are basic to freedom in this country – the evidence should be overwhelming that he is a threat to his employees and the league.

The evidence on Sarver is mixed. His bad behavior is well documented, but so are his extraordinary accomplishments in lifting African Americans and women and Latin American immigrants.

In this case, where there is room for punishment, there is also surely room for change and redemption.

Phil Boas is an editorial columnist. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Robert Sarver is an SOB. But he's a complicated SOB