NBA Fines and Suspends Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver

The N.B.A. is suspending Robert Sarver, the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns, for one year and fining him $10 million after an investigation determined that he had engaged in misconduct, including using racial slurs, yelling at employees and treating female employees unfairly.

“The statements and conduct described in the findings of the independent investigation are troubling and disappointing,” Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, said in a statement.

He added: “Regardless of position, power or intent, we all need to recognize the corrosive and hurtful impact of racially insensitive and demeaning language and behavior. On behalf of the entire N.B.A. I apologize to all of those impacted by the misconduct outlined in the investigators’ report. We must do better.”

Sarver said in a statement that he accepted the consequences of the N.B.A.’s decision.

“While I disagree with some of the particulars of the N.B.A.’s report, I would like to apologize for my words and actions that offended our employees,” he said. “I take full responsibility for what I have done. I am sorry for causing this pain, and these errors in judgment are not consistent with my personal philosophy or my values.”

Sarver also owns the W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury.

The N.B.A. began the investigation in response to a November 2021 article by ESPN about accusations of mistreatment against Sarver. After the article’s publication, the league retained the New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct an independent investigation.

On Tuesday, the firm and the N.B.A. released a 43-page report that found that Sarver “had engaged in conduct that clearly violated common workplace standards,” which included inappropriate comments about female employees’ appearance and bullying. He also engaged in inappropriate physical conduct toward male employees on four occasions, according to the report.

More than 100 individuals who were interviewed by investigators said they witnessed behavior that “violated applicable standards.” There was a general sense among employees that Sarver felt that workplace rules did not apply to him, according to the report.

Sarver also made crude jokes, cursed at employees and told a pregnant employee that she “would be unable to do her job upon becoming a mother,” according to the report. Witnesses recalled Sarver saying that the employee would be busy “breastfeeding” and that a “baby needs their mom, not their father.” The employee cried in response to Sarver’s comments, according to the report. Sarver later asked why women “cry so much.”

Sarver also “repeated the N-word when recounting the statements of others,” according to the report. Sarver was in the presence of players, coaches and members of the front office when he used the word during a team-building exercise during the 2012-13 season.

He also used the word after a 2016 game when he complained to one of the Suns’ coaches that a Black player on an opposing team had been allowed to use the word without receiving a technical foul. Even after the coach “admonished” Sarver for using the word, according to the report, Sarver loudly repeated it several times. He later used a version of the word in an email to the N.B.A.

Even though multiple Black coaches and employees said Sarver’s use of racial slurs, conduct and negative comments about diversity made them feel uncomfortable, the investigators said there was “no finding that Sarver’s conduct was motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”

The law firm that conducted the investigation, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, declined a general request for an interview then did not respond to specific questions about the racial and gender makeup of its investigative team.

According to the report, Sarver made crude sexual references on at least 20 occasions, and he pulled down the shorts of a male employee in front of team employees. Though the employee was not fully exposed, he was embarrassed.

And in 2015, according to the report, he made a joke that the team should have players “impregnate local strippers so they would feel connected to the area, giving the Suns a potential edge in free agency recruitment.” He also asked several players individually whether they shaved their genitalia, according to the report.

During the investigation, Sarver sought to defend himself by citing his contributions to social and racial justice causes, and by pointing to the Suns’ record of hiring a league-high percentage of people of color in its basketball operations department. Sarver also cited his ownership of the Mercury, the W.N.B.A. team, as an example of his support for women.

The Suns are one of five N.B.A. ownership groups that also own W.N.B.A. teams. The N.B.A., which founded the women’s league in 1996, owns 42.1 percent of the W.N.B.A.

“The actions taken on behalf of the N.B.A. and W.N.B.A. in response to the findings of the independent investigation are appropriate and necessary,” Cathy Engelbert, the W.N.B.A. commissioner, said in a statement to The New York Times. “We take great pride in being one of the most diverse and inclusive leagues in sports and hope that these actions will not only be used to establish a stronger workplace culture for the Suns/Mercury organization but also shine a light on the impact that offensive language and inappropriate behavior can have on employees more broadly.”

A total of 320 people were interviewed over the course of the investigation, including 202 current employees, 100 former employees, 12 of the team’s 15 minority owners and Sarver. Investigators said they reviewed 80,000 pages of emails, text messages and other documents, and 51 videos of employee meetings.

The most severe punishment the N.B.A. has ever delivered to a team owner came in 2014 when the league, under Silver, issued a lifetime ban and a $2.5 million fine to Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers at the time. Sterling had been recorded making racist remarks in a private conversation.

Silver said at the time that the punishment was based solely on that single incident, and that he would encourage the league’s board of governors to terminate Sterling’s ownership.

Instead, Rochelle Sterling sold the team for $2 billion, despite her husband’s unsuccessful attempts to stop the sale.

An N.B.A. spokesman declined to answer additional questions about the investigation, saying that Silver was expected to address the news media on Wednesday after a board of governors meeting. Silver regularly schedules news conferences after these meetings, which happen several times a year.