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      NBA Under Pressure to Remove Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver

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      A sponsor, team owner and players are calling for a harsher penalty for Robert Sarver, the Phoenix Suns owner, after an investigation found he mistreated employees for years.Minutes before the N.B.A. announced the results of an independent investigation into Robert Sarver, the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns, on Tuesday, a call took place between N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver and Tamika Tremaglio, the executive director of the players’ union.Silver told Tremaglio the report was coming and that, based on its findings, he’d given Sarver a $10 million fine and one-year suspension.It was one of many conversations they have had this week. Once Tremaglio had read the 43-page public report that said Sarver had used racial slurs and treated women unfairly, she met with players on the union’s executive committee. Then, she told Silver that a one-year suspension would not do. Sarver, she told him, should never return to the Suns.“We do have to step up; I have to protect our players,” Tremaglio said in an interview Friday. “In my mind, this is not protecting our players. We are putting them in a situation that we already know is toxic if we were to permit that.”She said Silver had said he understood.“I think he also was torn with regards to what needed to be done,” Tremaglio said.Tremaglio and N.B.A. players aren’t alone in wanting Sarver out of the N.B.A. for good. A prominent sponsor and a Suns minority owner also have called for Sarver to no longer be involved with the team, part of mounting pressure for a dissolution of the relationship between Sarver and the N.B.A. Sarver also owns the W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury.“I cannot in good judgment sit back and allow our children and future generations of fans to think that this behavior is tolerated because of wealth and privilege,” Jahm Najafi, a Suns vice chairman and minority owner, said in an open letter to employees and fans Thursday calling for Sarver to resign.PayPal, which has a logo patch on the Suns jerseys, said Friday it would not renew its sponsorship after the 2022-23 season if Sarver were involved with the team after his suspension.Dan Schulman, PayPal’s president and chief executive, said in a statement that Sarver’s conduct was “unacceptable and in conflict with our values.”What to Know: Robert Sarver Misconduct CaseCard 1 of 6A suspension and a fine. More

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      NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Defends 1-Year Suspension for Owner’s Misconduct

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      Adam Silver, the league’s commissioner, said the suspension and $10 million fine were fair, considering the “totality” of the career of Robert Sarver, who owns Phoenix’s N.B.A. and W.N.B.A. teams.N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver on Wednesday defended the one-year suspension and $10 million fine assessed to Robert Sarver, the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns, who was found after an independent investigation to have mistreated employees over more than a decade.Despite calls for harsher penalties, Silver said the suspension and fine were fair punishments for Sarver’s misconduct, which included using racial slurs, yelling at employees and treating female employees unfairly, according to the report. Silver said he had not talked to Sarver about his voluntarily selling his team because of his behavior, nor had the league’s board of governors discussed terminating Sarver’s ownership.“From a personal standpoint, I was in disbelief to a certain extent about what I learned that had transpired over the last 18 years in the Suns organization,” Silver said. “I was saddened by it, disheartened. I want to again apologize to the former, and in some cases current, employees of the Phoenix Suns for what they had to experience. There is absolutely no excuse for it. And we addressed it.”Sarver is also the majority owner of the W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury.Silver spoke to reporters one day after the league released a 43-page report from the New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz that detailed Sarver’s repeated use of racial slurs, mistreatment of employees, bullying and unfair treatment of female employees over nearly two decades as the owner of the Suns and the Mercury. Silver said the investigative group was diverse in race and gender, but he was unsure of the demographic breakdown. The law firm reviewed thousands of pages of documents and interviewed hundreds of current and former employees.Chris Paul, the Suns’ All-Star point guard, said in a post on Twitter late Wednesday that he was “horrified and disappointed” by the actions outlined in the report.“This conduct especially towards women is unacceptable and must never be repeated,” he said. “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.”Silver used the firm’s findings to determine what punishment Sarver deserved. He meted out the maximum fine allowable by the league’s constitution, but not the longest suspension.“I had the option to go longer,” Silver said. “I landed on one year. I will say it’s the second-longest suspension in the history of our league, just to put it in some sort of context.”Robert Sarver, center, the majority owner of the Suns and the Mercury, was found to have used racial slurs and treated women unfairly over several years.Ralph Freso/Associated PressThe harshest penalty the league has ever levied on a team owner came in 2014 when Donald Sterling, then the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was barred for life after he made racist remarks about Black people in a private conversation and a recording of his comments was made public.At the time, Silver said the punishment was based solely on that one incident, and that he would recommend that the board of governors vote to terminate Sterling’s ownership. Ultimately, though, Rochelle Sterling sold the team, despite her husband’s efforts to prevent her from doing so.Asked why he did not go as far with Sarver, Silver called Donald Sterling’s and Sarver’s situations “dramatically different.”“What we saw in the case of Donald Sterling was blatant racist conduct directed at a select group of people,” Silver said.When it came to Sarver, Silver said, the “totality of circumstances over an 18-year period in which he’s owned these teams” didn’t warrant the same punishment.Later Wednesday, LeBron James wrote on Twitter, “I gotta be honest … Our league definitely got this wrong.”James, who stars for the Los Angeles Lakers, continued: “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 work place. 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.”Silver said he had heard from players in the last 24 hours but would allow them to speak for themselves.“It’s beyond the pale in every possible way to use language and behave that way,” Silver said of Sarver’s behavior. But he added: “Remember, while there were these terrible things, there were also many, many people who had very positive things to say about him through this process.”Despite detailing several instances in which Sarver made women and Black people feel demeaned, the investigators said they did not find that Sarver’s actions were motivated by “racial or gender-based animus.”Silver paused when asked if he agreed with that assessment.“I accept their work,” Silver said. “To follow what we believe is appropriate process here, to bring in a law firm, to have them spend essentially nine months on this, to do the extensive kinds of interviews they can, I’m not able to put myself in their shoes. I respect the work they’ve done, we’ve done.”The public report did not explain how the investigators determined that Sarver’s actions were not motivated by racial or gender-based animus, but Silver said that the report represented only part of the findings. He said he was given more information, but to protect the privacy of those who had participated in the investigation he could not reveal more.“Let me reiterate: The conduct is indefensible,” Silver said. “But I feel we dealt with it in a fair manner, both taking into account the totality of the circumstances, not just those particular allegations but the 18 years in which Mr. Sarver has owned the Suns and the Mercury.”Silver was speaking after a meeting of the league’s board of governors in Manhattan. The board typically meets three times a year, including once before the start of the regular season. This week’s meeting lasted three days and included discussion about the investigation.When asked about the discrepancy between how Sarver is being treated, in being allowed to remain an N.B.A. owner, and how employees of most companies would be treated had they behaved similarly, Silver pointed to a different standard for team owners.“There’s no neat answer here, other than owning property, the rights that come with owning an N.B.A. team, how that’s set up within our constitution, what it would take to remove that team from his control is a very involved process, and it’s different than holding a job,” Silver said. “It just is, when you actually own a team. It’s just a very different proposition.”When asked what standards he would expect league owners to meet, Silver said each case must be considered individually.Silver made references to Sarver’s misconduct having been part of his past, and spoke of the positive changes he felt had been made in the Suns organization. But many of the incidents confirmed by investigators happened recently. For example, the report found an incident of Sarver making inappropriate sexual remarks in 2021, and one of the instances in which investigators confirmed that Sarver had used a racial slur occurred in 2016.Although the investigation has closed, Silver said this will not be the end of the league’s concern about Sarver’s actions.“In terms of future behavior, he’s on notice,” Silver said. “He knows that.” More

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      The NBA’s Investigation of Robert Sarver Reveals More Abusive Behavior in Sports

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      An investigation’s finding that Robert Sarver used racist and sexist language as owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury is another exhausting entry to the list of sports figures using their power abusively.I don’t want to write this column, and you don’t want to read it.Sports fans are tired of the whole subject matter: the people in sports who give the games we love a terrible name.I’m talking about the entitled bullies. The misogynists and miscreants. The racists and those who walk the line between being utterly ignorant and outright hate.I’m talking about the players and team owners who wield their power like a cudgel and act as though they can do anything they want to anyone they want.But here I am again, this time addressing Robert Sarver, the owner of the Phoenix Suns of the N.B.A. and the Phoenix Mercury of the W.N.B.A., whom the N.B.A. suspended for a year and fined $10 million after it found that he mistreated employees over his 18-year tenure. According to the N.B.A., that abuse of staff included Sarver’s repeated use of a racist slur for Black people, making sex-related comments in the workplace and inequitable treatment of women.The league’s report did not conclude “that Mr. Sarver’s workplace misconduct was motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”In a statement Tuesday, Sarver said that while he disagreed “with some of the particulars” of the N.B.A.’s report, he apologized for his words and actions.It feels like a constant drumbeat. This week, I’m writing about a guy — and yes, it’s almost always a guy — whose actions are just the latest blight on sports, one of the essential parts of our cultural life.Sarver is not well known to the run-of-the-mill fan, but the teams he owns and oversees are. The Suns and Mercury are longtime pillars in their leagues. The Suns nearly won the N.B.A. championship in the 2020-21 season and were among the league’s best last season. The Mercury have won three W.N.B.A. titles — and have drawn the world’s attention because Brittney Griner, their star center, is imprisoned in Russia and at the center of a geopolitical storm.Over the last year, Sarver and his teams have been under a microscope. While the Suns and Mercury were trying to win championships, lawyers hired by the N.B.A. began peering into the behavior of the 60-year-old owner after ESPN reported his misdeeds and the toxic work environment he spawned.The type of behavior investigators reported is so familiar, having happened in so many other instances, that it won’t take long to guess what they entailed. Misogyny? Check. Bullying and browbeating employees? Check.What to Know:Robert Sarver Misconduct CaseCard 1 of 6A suspension and a fine. More

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      NBA Fines and Suspends Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver

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      An investigation found that the owner, Robert Sarver, had used racial slurs and treated female employees inequitably. The N.B.A. fined Sarver $10 million.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.N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver said the findings of the investigation into Robert Sarver’s conduct were “troubling and disappointing.”Jeff Chiu/Associated PressThe 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.What to Know:Robert Sarver Misconduct CaseCard 1 of 6A suspension and a fine. More

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      Isabella Escribano Is the Teen Baller Behind the Brittney Griner Hoodies

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      Isabella Escribano, 14, is popular on Instagram for her basketball skills. She’s using her design skills in the public campaign to free the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner.For more hours now than she can remember, Isabella Escribano sat on the orange couch inside her garage, iPad in hand, crafting clothing designs that she hoped would aid one of her favorite basketball players.That player, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, was arrested in Russia in February after customs officials said they found hashish oil, a cannabis derivative, in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. In May, the U.S. government said that Griner had been wrongfully detained, but on Aug. 4 she was convicted on a drug charge in Russia and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. She has appealed her conviction.Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, reached out to Escribano in March to collaborate on apparel that she hoped W.N.B.A. players would wear to bring awareness to Griner’s situation. Kagawa Colas said she had chosen Escribano for two reasons: Escribano, 14, is a popular girls’ basketball player with over 100,000 Instagram followers, and she has her own clothing brand of W.N.B.A. streetwear called Break The Curse.Escribano, who is in the eighth grade, said she “wanted to make the shirt for Brittney Griner as loud as possible.”Operating from the garage at her parents’ home in Santa Clarita, Calif., Escribano and her older brothers, Marco Escribano and Anthony Lizarraga, landed on a colorful design that has been sported by players across the W.N.B.A. this season.Isabella Escribano earned the nickname Jiggy because of her ball-handling and shifty moves on the basketball court.Meg Oliphant for The New York TimesThe front of the design, seen on hoodies and T-shirts, features a smiling Griner in her Mercury jersey with a basketball that reads “WEAREBG” — the phrase that has become the rallying cry in the public campaign for her release. Griner’s jersey number, 42, is wrapped around the left side, and on the back, her first and last name are printed in capital letters.“I wanted to make sure that the shirt meant something,” Isabella Escribano said. “Like, when you see it, it’s something big. It’s basically a statement.” She added: “What we want to do is start a conversation, like whoever wears it is supporting her, basically saying, ‘Free Brittney Griner.’”Sydney Bordonaro, who styles outfits for several W.N.B.A. players, including Las Vegas Aces guards Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray, said the distinctive look of the Griner clothing made it attractive.“It’s just super fly,” Bordonaro said. “Like, you could wear it out to the club or to an event. It’s not like it’s a jersey or, you know, just a corny T-shirt.”Connecticut Sun point guard Jasmine Thomas packs the T-shirt or hoodie for every game. Having Griner’s face on the front gives the items an intense and emotional aspect that makes them stand out, she said.“I think for someone that’s not even a W.N.B.A. fan, they automatically see her face, and then if they don’t already know what’s going on, they research B.G. to get to know her, what she’s about, who she is, why she’s so important and why she needs to come home,” Thomas said.“I wanted to make the shirt for Brittney Griner as loud as possible,” Isabella Escribano said.Meg Oliphant for The New York TimesMarco Escribano, 24, said 215 T-shirts and sweatshirts had been sent to W.N.B.A. players, other professional athletes and coaches for free. Break the Curse and Wasserman, the agency that represents Griner, split the manufacturing costs ($75 for the T-shirts, $80 for the sweatshirts) and share some of the shipping costs.Break the Curse also sells the T-shirt for $120 and the sweatshirt for $150 on its website. The proceeds are used to cover the company’s portion of the production and shipping costs for the clothing sent to W.N.B.A. players and others. About 250 total T-shirts and sweatshirts have been sold; that hasn’t been enough yet to cover Break The Curse’s costs, but having players wearing the design has increased the website’s traffic significantly and led to other merchandise sales, Marco Escribano said.The quick turnarounds for some requests have been a challenge, like when Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul wanted a shirt during his team’s playoff matchup with the Dallas Mavericks in May.At the time, only two shirts were made, and they were samples. One was shipped to Paul overnight, but it never made it to him, somehow lost in the delivery process. So the brothers washed the other one — which they had planned to keep for themselves — and shipped it to Paul, who wore it to Game 5 of the series.“I just was like: ‘We’ll just send him this, bro. Spray some cologne on it and just let it go,’” Marco Escribano said while laughing. “It’s crazy that Chris Paul was wearing our shirt.”Phoenix Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, left, and Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul, right, are two of the many athletes who have worn the Brittney Griner apparel from Break the Curse. Isabella Escribano, center, worked on the design with her brothers.Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images; Meg Oliphant for The New York Times; Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty ImagesNone of the family had experience in manufacturing clothing before last year, and Marco Escribano said they learned new aspects of the fashion industry with every design.Isabella Escribano’s celebrity has drawn athletes and others to the brand. Her YouTube videos show off the tight handle and shifty moves that earned her the moniker Jiggy. She has a larger social media following than some W.N.B.A. players, and many professional men’s and women’s basketball players have followed her journey since she was 10 years old.Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson wore her first-ever design — a Chicago Sky-themed hoodie — last year, and Chance the Rapper wore it onstage at a concert. Plum, the Aces guard, wore an unreleased jacket that Escribano worked on for four months to Game 2 of Las Vegas’s playoff series against Phoenix this month. The jacket featured different W.N.B.A. team logos and had “STOP WNBA HATE” in red on the interior.Thomas, the Sun guard, remembered meeting Escribano years ago after a game, so when she found that “little Isabella” was behind the Griner design, she felt more inclined to support the brand. “I’m just super proud of Isabella for being able to understand how important her platform is and using it at such a young age,” Thomas said. “That’s exactly what we want to see from young girls, and she’s really a role model and a leader in so many ways.”Isabella Escribano said she was still focused on basketball as her clothing brand grows. Her goal is to make it to the W.N.B.A.Meg Oliphant for The New York TimesBut as the brand grows, Escribano’s primary focus is still on playing basketball and making it to the W.N.B.A. When she’s not creating designs, she spends most of her time in the gym, where she trains with Phil Handy, a Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, among others. She said she would keep the brand going as long as she had a passion for it.“There’s a lot of girls like me or other people that love the W.N.B.A. and want to support the W.N.B.A., but there’s not a lot of clothes to do that,” Escribano said. “So, I just want to give the opportunity for anybody that loves women’s basketball to be able to buy and wear it.”She added: “Most of the time, I think about when I’m in the W.N.B.A. and how I won’t have to go buy clothes. I could just wear my own stuff.” More

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      What to Know About the WNBA Playoffs

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      The Chicago Sky will try to defend their championship, but Las Vegas and Connecticut are threats. So is Seattle, with the retiring Sue Bird.The Chicago Sky are set to begin their bid to become the first back-to-back W.N.B.A. champions since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002. But the regular season was close at the top, and several teams could easily lift the trophy this year.Here’s how the W.N.B.A. playoffs shape up.When do the playoffs start?Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time, when the second-seeded Sky host the seventh-seeded Liberty. At 10 p.m., the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces host the eighth-seeded Phoenix Mercury.The other two series — No. 3 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 6 Dallas Wings and No. 4 Seattle Storm vs. No. 5 Washington Mystics — start Thursday.How do the playoffs work?The first round is best of three, with the higher-seeded team hosting the first two games. If a third game is necessary, it will be played at the home of the lower-seeded team.The semifinals and finals are best of five, following a traditional 2-2-1 format for home games.Besides the joy of making it to the end, the finals will bring the players another perk. For that round only, the league will pay for teams to fly by chartered plane.Where can I watch the games?ABC and the various ESPN channels will show the playoffs. Games can also be streamed via ESPN.When are the finals?They are scheduled to begin on Sept. 11 and run through Sept. 20 if all five games are needed.Who’s going to win?The big three are Las Vegas, Chicago and Connecticut, who all finished within a game of each other at the top. Seattle and Washington, which finished with identical records of 22-14, are the next tier down.Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson is a leading candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award. She’s aiming to win her first championship.Rebecca Slezak/The Dallas Morning News, via Associated PressIt is very hard to see any of the bottom three teams winning. Dallas was .500, and the Liberty and Phoenix both lost more than they won in the regular season.For the statistically minded, Las Vegas had the league’s most potent offense, scoring 109.6 points per 100 possessions. Washington had the stingiest defense, allowing just 96 points per 100 possessions.But in net rating, combining offense and defense, it was Connecticut at the top, scoring 9.5 points more than the opposition per 100 possessions. That could make the third-seeded Sun a sneaky favorite.Who are the players to watch?The top-seeded Aces have a powerful one-two punch. Forward A’ja Wilson is a favorite for the Most Valuable Player Award after finishing in the top five in points per game (19.5) and rebounds per game (9.4), and guard Kelsey Plum scored 20.2 points a game while leading the league in 3-pointers made.Seattle has another M.V.P. candidate in forward Breanna Stewart, who led the league in scoring with 21.8 points per game, and few will take their eyes off the legendary Sue Bird, 41, the W.N.B.A. career assists leader, who will retire after the playoffs.And it will be worth watching Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty, who at this point still has just one career playoff game.What’s the history?Seattle has four W.N.B.A. titles, all of them — yes, even the one back in 2004 — with Bird. Phoenix has won three times; once each for Washington and Chicago. The Dallas Wings won three times when they were known as the Detroit Shock. The other three teams are seeking their first titles. It’s an especially sore point for the Liberty, who have been in the league since its first season in 1997.What teams and players are missing?Seven of the eight teams are the same as in last year’s playoffs. With Washington returning after a year away, the odd team out is the Minnesota Lynx, who finished 14-22 and snapped an 11-season playoff streak.That means no playoff showcase for Sylvia Fowles, who is retiring after a season in which she led the league in rebounds per game.The absence of the Los Angeles Sparks will cost fans a chance to see more of Nneka Ogwumike and the steals leader, Brittney Sykes.The Mercury will be without both the injured Diana Taurasi, the W.N.B.A.’s career leader in scoring, and Skylar Diggins-Smith, who led Phoenix in scoring this season but will miss the playoffs for personal reasons. But the team’s grimmest absence of all is Brittney Griner, who is appealing her conviction on drug-smuggling charges in Russia, where she has been imprisoned since February. More

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      A Chaotic Sprint to the Finish for the W.N.B.A. Season

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      Six teams are fighting for the final three playoff spots with only one week left.The Chicago Sky, the reigning champions, are assured of one of the top two spots in the upcoming W.N.B.A. playoffs. The rebuilding Indiana Fever are the only team out of contention. Everything else is up for grabs.The final week of the W.N.B.A.’s regular season should be a showcase of the parity and chaos the league has seen all season. Six of the league’s 12 teams are battling for the final three playoff spots, and the teams that have already clinched are still jockeying for seeding.At the top of the standings, the Sky are 25-8 and hold a two-game lead in the race for the No. 1 seed. Chicago can fall no further than a No. 2 seed after a win Sunday over the Connecticut Sun, but it will still need to hold off the Las Vegas Aces, who spoiled Sue Bird’s final regular-season game at Climate Pledge Arena with a win over the Seattle Storm. Chicago and Las Vegas face off Thursday in their final regular-season meeting.The Sun are solidly in the third spot but could still overtake the Aces for the No. 2 seed. A bigger battle is brewing below them, though, as Seattle and the Washington Mystics fight for home-court advantage in what is nearly certain to be the playoff matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. The Storm are at a scheduling disadvantage, with games on the road against Chicago and Las Vegas around a trip to Minneapolis. The Mystics, meanwhile, finish with two games against the last-place Fever and play their final regular-season game at home.The Chicago Sky have clinched one of the top two spots in the playoffs.Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesOf the teams hoping to clinch one of the final playoff spots, the Dallas Wings were in the best shape entering Monday, holding a 16-16 record with four games remaining — all against teams that sit below them in the standings. Marina Mabrey’s 31 points helped Dallas clinch a berth with an 86-77 win Monday night against the Liberty.Below the Wings, though, the race is wide open. With three games left for each, the Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury are tied at 14-19, though the Dream own the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Liberty are now 13-20 with three games left, and the Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks are also hanging on at 13-20.The Dream, the Mercury and the Liberty have all been without key players down the stretch. Atlanta guard Tiffany Hayes has missed three games with an ankle injury, while Phoenix announced Monday that Diana Taurasi would miss the rest of the regular season with a quad injury. For Saturday’s game with Phoenix, the Liberty had finally gotten healthy as Betnijah Laney returned to action two months after knee surgery, but forward Natasha Howard went down with an ankle injury.Those injuries could leave the door open for the ninth-place Lynx: They hold the season tiebreakers over Phoenix and the Liberty, and they play the Mercury in a must-win game Wednesday. But the rest of Minnesota’s schedule is daunting, with games at home against Seattle and on the road against Connecticut. In its favor is the comeback of Napheesa Collier, who returned Sunday less than three months after giving birth. (A motivating factor for her was the chance to play again with Sylvia Fowles, who is retiring at the end of the season.)Finally, the Sparks may face the most difficult path to a playoff berth, for reasons on and off the court. Los Angeles had been in position for the No. 6 seed after a July 21 win over the Dream. But with drama swirling as the four-time All-Star Liz Cambage left the team, the Sparks dropped six games in a row to fall to 11th place.A win Sunday against the Mystics kept their hopes alive. But they must play back-to-back games this week against the third-place Sun before finishing up against the surging Wings. And making matters worse, the Sparks were caught up in a travel nightmare while trying to leave Washington.Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale going against Natasha Cloud of the Washington Mystics.Rebecca Slezak/The Dallas Morning News, via Associated PressAfter their flight was delayed and then canceled, some members of the Sparks spent the night in the airport when there weren’t enough hotel rooms for all players. Nneka Ogwumike, a former league M.V.P., said in a video posted on Twitter, “It’s the first time in my 11 seasons that I’ve ever had to sleep in the airport.” More

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      Brittney Griner’s Tearful WNBA Teammates Play On After Her Conviction

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      Brittney Griner, the Phoenix Mercury star, was convicted on drug charges in Russia. Hours later, her teammates had a game. “Nobody even wanted to play today,” one said.UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Phoenix Mercury Coach Vanessa Nygaard and her coaching staff stood in the empty Mohegan Sun arena on Thursday, puzzled.The Mercury were set to take on the Connecticut Sun at 7 p.m., and her players were supposed to be on the court going through their normal pregame shoot-around, but no one showed up.Instead, the Mercury players were back in the locker room, glued to the television screen watching their teammate Brittney Griner’s conviction and sentencing on drug smuggling and possession charges earlier that day in a Russian court thousands of miles away. “It was like you’re waiting for a bomb to drop,” Mercury guard Diamond DeShields said.They watched with tear-filled eyes as Griner fought through her own tears and pleaded with a Russian court not to “end her life” for an “honest mistake.” Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony and fined 1 million rubles, or about $16,000. The sentence opens the door for Griner to be returned to the United States through a prisoner swap, but for the players, the news was still heartbreaking to hear.“And we’re still supposed to play this game,” Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith said after the game, adding an expletive. “Nobody even wanted to play today. How are we even supposed to approach the game and approach the court with a clear mind when the whole group is crying before the game?”Phoenix Mercury guards Skylar Diggins-Smith, left, and Diamond DeShields said they had been emotional after Griner’s sentencing on Thursday. Kena Betancur/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesNygaard said the team had eventually gone through a “version” of the shoot-around, but nothing about the day or game felt normal. The most atypical moment of the night for Nygaard happened moments before tipoff, as the lights dimmed and players, coaches and referees locked arms in solidarity for 42 seconds — matching the number of Griner’s jersey. Fans chanted “We are B.G.” and “Bring her home.”“I even linked arms with a referee, so you know you’re never going to see that again,” Nygaard said with a smile.Griner has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17 after customs officials said they found hashish oil, a cannabis derivative, in Griner’s luggage at an airport near Moscow when she was traveling to the country to play for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a professional women’s basketball team. Griner said during her trial on drug charges that the hashish oil, in a vape pen, had been packed by mistake. Players across the W.N.B.A. and other professional athletes have campaigned fiercely for her freedom. In May, the U.S. State Department said that it had determined that Griner was “wrongfully detained” and that its officials would work to free her. Experts have said a prisoner swap is the most likely path for Griner’s release; the White House recently said it had made a “substantial” proposal.In the meantime, Griner’s teammates and fans have continued their public campaign of support.As fans filled the arena on Thursday night, they were greeted by Connecticut Sun dancers and arena staff members wearing “We are BG” T-shirts. Griner’s purple and orange No. 42 Mercury jerseys filled the stands along with variations of clothing with messages calling for her freedom. Mercury players donned the “We are BG” shirts in pregame warm-ups, as did the Connecticut coaching staff and several Sun players. Sun point guard Jasmine Thomas, who has been out injured, wore a hooded sweatshirt with a picture of Griner on the front and her No. 42 on the back.Sharon White, a Sun fan and a season-ticket holder since 2002, was among those wearing Mercury colors. She was wearing a purple T-shirt that featured Griner’s name and number, which she said she wears to every game regardless of the opponent.“When I get home, I wash it and I wear it again, even when they’re not playing,” White said, adding that her friends often make fun of her for how much she wears the shirt. White said she had cried as she watched Griner’s verdict on Thursday.Sharon White, a Connecticut Sun fan, said she always wears a purple Brittney Griner T-shirt, no matter who is playing, as a sign of support.Kris Rhim for The New York Times“It just hurts — I love her as a player, and it’s just a sad situation,” White said, wiping tears from her eyes. She added: “She doesn’t need to be there. When she comes home, she doesn’t need to go back. I think none of our players should go over there.”Many W.N.B.A. players go overseas during the off-season to play for international teams to supplement their income. Griner was shown holding up a picture of her UMMC Yekaterinburg team photo from behind bars on Thursday.Among those in the picture were Jonquel Jones, the Sun forward who won the W.N.B.A.’s Most Valuable Player Award last season. Jones, like Griner, has played for the Russian team for several years.Jones said she had never expected something like Griner’s detention to happen. After Griner’s arrest, Jones said she had learned that even cannabidiol oil, which she always carries with her to help with recovery from pain and injuries, was illegal in Russia.“My experiences over there have been so good,” Jones said. “Our team was top notch. They treated us like the professionals we are. We loved going over there because of that. So we just always felt safe. We never felt like anything would ever happen. So to see it happen to one of my teammates and be so close to it and understand that it could’ve been me, it puts it into perspective.”Jones said getting excited for Thursday’s game had been difficult; the moment of solidarity made her even more emotional.“It was like, ‘Dang, we did that, and now I got to go play basketball; my friend is still locked up overseas,’” Jones said. “So you just kind of go out there and do the best that you can do and not take the moment for granted, knowing that this is where she would want to be.”The Mercury lost the game, 77-64, with an 18-0 Sun run in the third and fourth quarters that put the game out of reach. Diggins was the game’s leading scorer, with 16 points, and Jones finished with 14. But for both sides, the numbers seemingly didn’t matter.“We’ll wake up tomorrow, and B.G. will still be in a Russian jail,” Nygaard said. “It’s day 169 or something tomorrow, and the clock continues, and we just want her to come home.” More