NBA commissioner Adam Silver has defended his decision to not impose a lifetime ban on Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver following the outcome of an independent investigation into his tenure with the franchise.
The scathing 43-page report found Sarver was known to make a number of inappropriate comments to women in the workplace – including discussing oral sex at a business meeting as recently as 2021 – as well as repeating the n-word on five occasions in situations he claimed he was "recounting the statements of others".
There is precedent for forcing an owner to sell his team, with former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling receiving a lifetime ban from the league in 2014 – barring him from owning a team, entering the Clippers facility, and ever attending an NBA game.
Instead, Sarver was issued with a $10million fine and one-year suspension, in a ruling that caused superstar LeBron James to come out and tweet "our league definitely got this wrong".
But when addressing the media following Wednesday's meeting with the Board of Governors, Silver said they were very different situations, and that Sarver's comments were "wholly of a different kind than we saw in the [Sterling] case".
That outlook comes from the authors of the investigative report concluding that Sarver's behaviour was not the result of "racial or gender-based animus", giving him the benefit of the doubt with what they describe as his "sophomoric" sense of humour and desire to provoke.
"I think all of us would want to be judged by the totality of all we’ve done, good and bad," Silver said.
"His track record of hiring, his track record of support for particular employees. There were many, many people who had very positive things to say about him. I took all of that into account."
Silver repeatedly defended the 60-year-old real estate developer, saying he had taken "complete accountability and seemed fully remorseful" during a recent conversation, and asserting that he had done "many very positive things" during his time as owner of the Suns.
When asked why Sarver should be allowed to retain ownership of the team when any other employee would surely be fired, Silver highlighted the difficult process of actually removing an owner, and implied that the hit to Sarver's reputation is a punishment in itself.
"There are particular rights here for people who own an NBA team," he said.
"There’s no neat answer here. Owning property, the rights that come with owning a team, how that’s set up within our constitution… is different than holding a job. It just is, when you own a team. It’s just a very different proposition.
"The consequences are severe here for Mr. Sarver, reputationally. It’s hard to even make those comparisons to somebody who commits an inappropriate act in the workplace in an anonymous fashion, compared to what is a huge public issue.
"In terms of future behaviour, he’s on notice. He knows that."
In a statement on Tuesday, Sarver said he disagrees "with some of the particulars of the NBA's report".
Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms
United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels of intensity from his team as their Olympics campaign approaches.
Kerr was unhappy with the lacklustre displays from his side in their warm-ups against Germany and South Sudan.
Germany led 71-68 at the end of the third quarter before LeBron James conjured up 11 points in the final four minutes to give the USA a 92-88 win, while South Sudan were 20 seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest shocks in basketball history, before eventually falling to a 101-100 loss.
The USA face a dangerous Serbia side featuring reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Sunday, and Kerr is adamant that improvements are required if they are to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
He said: "It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.
“We have another level. I think we have another two levels that we can get to, but it's a collaboration, always.
"We can show them, 'Let's do this, let's do that. Let's learn personnel.'
"We got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters, all that stuff. So that's where we can help them. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy play after play, after play. This is different."
Kerr is a four-time NBA champion as a coach, and was part of the triumphant Olympics team in Tokyo in 2021, but the Golden State Warriors boss knows the experience of the Games will only be enhanced if the USA were to come out on top again.
"This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal," he said.
After facing Serbia, the USA will once again go up against South Sudan, this time in a competitive format, before ending the group stage with a match against Puerto Rico.
Durant warns Team USA 'everybody is a contender' in Olympic basketball tournament
Kevin Durant has warned Team USA they will not have an easy ride through the basketball tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, declaring: "Everybody is a contender".
The United States will go in search of a fifth straight men's basketball gold in the French capital, where they open their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday.
After that meeting with Nikola Jokic and company, the star-studded USA team featuring Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and a host of other NBA stars take on South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
With Steve Kerr having so much talent at his disposal, the roster has been compared to that of the 1992 'Dream Team', who took gold in Barcelona behind the efforts of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and other great names.
However, at a press conference ahead of Team USA's 2024 opener, Curry reminded reporters that the class of 1992 only faced nine other active NBA players.
Durant is expecting a much tougher assignment this year, responding to Curry by saying: "Everybody is a contender. Everyone is here for a reason.
"We're playing against 65 or 64 NBA players in Paris. So you know they're the best in the world."
Asked to identify the main players to watch from other nations, the Phoenix Suns forward said: "Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or Jokic."
While Durant adopted a cautious tone, Golden State Warriors star Curry was more bullish regarding the USA's gold medal hopes.
Quizzed on who he was most excited about facing, Curry simply said: "Whoever's in the gold medal game."
Knicks, head coach Thibodeau agree to three-year contract extension
The New York Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau have agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season.
New York went 50-32 last season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the semi-finals of the play-offs.
The Knicks were also ousted in the East semis in 2022-23 and reached the play-offs during Thibodeau’s first season in 2021-22, when he won his second NBA Coach of the Year award.
Prior to 2021-22, New York’s previous post-season appearance came in 2013.
The Knicks have gone 175-143 over the last four seasons under Thibodeau, who earned his first NBA Coach of the Year award in 2011 as a rookie head coach with the Chicago Bulls.
The 66-year-old Thibodeau owns a 527-389 record in 12 seasons as a head coach with Chicago, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York.
His teams have gone 38-47 in the post-season, and Thibodeau’s only appearance in the conference finals came in his rookie head coach season.
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