Following the announcement of a suspension and $10 million fine for the Suns and Mercury owner, NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the media Wednesday to explain the league’s punishment. This follows a yearlong investigation of Sarver’s workplace misconduct, where he was found to have used racial slurs on multiple occasions, made inappropriate comments about the physical appearances of female employees and engaged in inappropriate misconduct with male employees.
Dean Stoyer, the Suns’ chief marketing communications officer, responded to Paul’s tweet by thanking him for “standing up and speaking out.” Additionally, with the WNBA season over for the Mercury, their focus flips to free agency. However, under the current leadership and with the allegations against Sarver, Phoenix could see a difference in interest from free agents.
Paul and the team threatened to sit out of a playoff game shortly after Sterling’s recording became public. This put Silver in the necessary position to put his foot down and act with executive power. Sterling was forced to sell the team to a new owner, cutting him completely out of the league’s picture.
“For me, the situations are dramatically different,” he said. “In the case of Donald Sterling, it was a case of blatant racist conduct directed at a select group of people. We heard those words and there was a follow-up from the league’s office and that became public as well about what Sterling even subsequently said about his actions.