Robert Sarver, the owner of the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, has been suspended by the NBA for one year and fined $10million after an investigation found he engaged in racist and sexist conduct at the workplace.
The report was published Tuesday and was initiated after the NBA commissioned a law firm to investigate Sarver's behaviour after ESPN reported last November allegations of racism and misogyny during his 18 years with the Suns.
The investigators interviewed 320 people, and Sarver, team management and employees "cooperated fully with the investigative process", according to the NBA.
The investigation found Sarver ''repeated or purported to repeat the N-word on at least five occasions spanning his tenure with the Suns,'' though added there is "no finding that Sarver used this racially insensitive language with the intent to demean or denigrate", concluding he said the word "when recounting the statements of others".
The study also determined that there were "instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees," including "sex-related comments" and inappropriate comments made toward a pregnant woman.
He also made inappropriate jokes about sex and anatomy, as well as yelled and cursed at employees in a manner that would be considered bullying ''under workplace standards".
Based on the findings by the probe, the NBA punished Sarver by banning him from any NBA or WNBA team facility, including any office, arena, or practice facility; attending or participating in any NBA or WNBA event or activity, including games, practices or business partner activity; representing the Suns or Mercury in any public or private capacity; or having any involvement with the business or basketball operations of the Suns or Mercury.
The league said it would donate his $10m fine ''to organisations that are committed to addressing race and gender-based issues in and outside the workplace".
''The statements and conduct described in the findings of the independent investigation are troubling and disappointing,'' NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
"We believe the outcome is the right one, taking into account all the facts, circumstances and context brought to light by the comprehensive investigation of this 18-year period and our commitment to upholding proper standards in NBA workplaces.''
Sarver said he will ''accept the consequences of the league's decision'', though also stated he disagreed with some of the investigation.
"While I disagree with some of the particulars of the NBA's report, I would like to apologize for my words and actions that offended our employees," Sarver said in a statement through the Suns.
"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."
As part of his punishment by the NBA, Sarver will have to complete a training programme ''focused on respect and appropriate conduct in the workplace."'
''On behalf of the entire NBA, I apologize to all of those impacted by the misconduct outlined in the investigators' report," Silver said. "We must do better."
Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge says the side lacked resolve and did not believe in each other last season leading to their first-round playoffs exit.
Former Phoenix Suns player and head coach Ainge stepped into the Jazz role in January, after the side had the best record (52-20) in the Western Conference in 2020-21.
But the Jazz bowed out of the 2021-22 playoffs at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, after a 49-33 season.
Key players including Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell have since left, along with head coach Quin Snyder who resigned in June, marking a period of change for Utah.
"What I saw during the season was a group of players that really didn't believe in each other," Ainge told reporters on Monday. "Like the whole group, I think they liked each other even more than what was reported, but I'm not sure there was a belief.
"When we got to the playoffs I thought, well this is a team that has had some disappointing playoffs so I thought maybe they're just waiting for the playoffs. I gave them that benefit of the doubt, but it was clear the team didn't perform well in the playoffs again.
"I believe every one of these guys went into every game believing they were going to win, don't get me wrong on that. I'm just saying when adversity hit, the resolve, you could see in a team that has a true belief in having each other's back or one another.
"I think individually they have resolve, but I just don't believe collectively they did. So you see a lot of players trying to do it on their own as the believe in one another wasn't as great as teams I've been on and around that I've seen."
Jazz general manager Justin Zanik claimed that the side's offseason changes, trading out All-Stars Gobert and Mitchell, was about opening up another window to challenge for an NBA title. Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji all joined the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of the Mitchell trade.
"You have these conversations and there's a return and you start balancing what you can acquire on the market for perennial All-Star players, and we traded two of them this summer, that necessitates us to make a decision for the organisation that is hard," Zanik said.
"We've got really good players, but you have a timeline you want to open up with a maximum window.
"Previous results kind of told us who we were. It wasn't just a one-year thing. This was a good three-year period where we won a lot of games and had a lot of success, but we were tapped out from a potential stand point and we needed to reset that."
The Minnesota Timberwolves have joined Anthony Edwards in apologising for a video the former first overall pick posted in which he made a homophobic slur.
Edwards posted a video to his Instagram story on which he could be heard passing comment on a group of men gathered near the car he was sat in.
The offensive clip prompted a backlash on social media, and Edwards apologised on Sunday.
"What I said was immature, hurtful and disrespectful, and I'm incredibly sorry," he wrote on his Twitter page.
"It's unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, there's no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!"
The Timberwolves released a statement on Monday, attributed to president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.
"We are disappointed in the language and actions Anthony Edwards displayed on social media," it read.
"The Timberwolves are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming organisation for all and apologise for the offense this has caused to so many."
Stephen Curry has revealed the Golden State Warriors discussed the possibility of re-signing Kevin Durant – a move their superstar point guard would have welcomed.
Durant appeared set to be on the move this offseason after requesting a trade away from the Brooklyn Nets.
The former NBA MVP joined the Nets after leaving the Warriors in 2019, where he had spent three seasons playing alongside Curry, reaching the Finals in each year and winning two titles and two Finals MVP awards.
Curry and Durant won 131 of the 168 regular season games they played together (78.0 per cent), so it was perhaps no surprise the idea of a reunion appealed to the Golden State stalwart.
Ultimately, the Nets announced they had "agreed to move forward with our partnership" with Durant, but Curry has detailed his thought-process as the saga played out.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, conducted in August for the October issue, Curry said: "There was a conversation internally amongst us about, 'If he was available, would you?'
"Every team has those conversations, and obviously in our situation, they're going to call me and ask me, 'How do you feel about it?'
"I was never hesitant. The idea of playing with KD and knowing who he is as a person, from our history in those three years, I think KD's a really good dude.
"I think he is misunderstood. I think he has had certain things happen in his life that hurt his ability to trust people around him, in a sense of making him feel safe at all times.
"So all of those things I understand, having played with him and gotten to know him. I love that dude.
"And if you said, 'Oh, KD's coming back, and we're going to play with him'... I had so much fun playing with him those three years, I'd be like, 'hell, yeah!'
"Then you have to think: what does that actually mean? What does it look like? You tell me I'm playing with [Warriors team-mates Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and Draymond Green], I'm like, 'hell, yeah!'
"There's all types of emotion and things that happen to the league. And if anybody's saying that you wouldn't entertain that conversation... no disrespect to anybody on our team, but you don't know how things work.
"But you also understand, if we run this thing back, I've got complete confidence in my team that we can win it again, as constructed.
"So, all those things were true. And it started with me wanting to play with KD at the beginning.
"Yeah, it's about winning, it's about having fun, playing the game of basketball. And that was part of the reaction of, 'yeah, it'd be amazing'... what does that actually mean?"
The NBA is expected to raise the salary cap by over $10million for the 2023-24 season, while also increasing the tax level.
The salary cap for the upcoming 2022-23 season has been set at $123.65m, with a tax level of $150.26m.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the league told teams on Friday that the cap is projected to rise to $134m, and the tax level to $162m, a significant rise.
It is also around $1m higher than previous projections made by the NBA in June.
The new NBA season gets underway on October 18 when the Boston Celtics host the Philadelphia 76ers.
Free agent big-man Montrezl Harrell has agreed to a two-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the signing on Tuesday, noting that it is worth $5.2million, with the second year being a player option that Harrell can opt out of if he outperforms his contract.
The 28-year-old Harrell spent last season with the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets, averaging 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 71 games, and has previously been on teams with current Sixers coach Doc Rivers as well as James Harden.
A second-round pick by Houston in 2015, Harrell spent his first two seasons in the NBA as a teammate to Harden with the Rockets.
He then spent his next three seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers with Rivers as the coach and was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2019-20, when he averaged career highs of 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds.
With just 29 starts in 458 career games, Harrell will again provide depth off the bench, this time backing up five-time All-Star and back-to-back MVP runner-up Joel Embiid.
In seven NBA seasons, Harrell owns career averages of 12.9 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 62.0 per cent.
Among the 126 active players with a minimum of 3000 field goal attempts, Harrell’s shooting percentage ranks fourth.
In a game with NBA talent on both sides, Giannis Antetokounmpo willed Greece to a 89-85 win against Croatia in Friday's Eurobasket action.
Antetokounmpo was the game's equal top-scorer with 27 points, shooting nine-of-24 from the field and nine-of-11 from the free throw line while adding 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
He was supported well by teammate Tyler Dorsey, who was incredibly efficient for his 27 points, finishing nine-of-17 from the field, including going five-of-nine from beyond the arc, and he added five rebounds and two steals.
For Croatia, Utah Jazz wing Bojan Bogdanovic eight-of-15 from the field to score 19 points with seven rebounds, Los Angeles Clippers centre Ivica Zubac had 11 points and five rebounds with two blocks, and former top-five NBA Draft pick Mario Hezonja chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.
Also on Friday, reigning back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic put up 22 points, six rebounds and four assists to help Serbia comfortably handle the Netherlands 100-76.
He dominated the outing along with Euroleague star Vasilje Micic, who posted 22 points and 12 assists.
In a terrific contest, recent Washington Wizards lottery pick Deni Avdija led his team to a 89-87 win over Cleveland Cavaliers forward Lauri Markkanen's Finland.
Avdija had 23 points and 15 rebounds, while Markkanen top-scored with 33 points and 12 rebounds, aided by a 14-of-15 performance at the free throw line.
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