Robert Sarver is a jerk, a horrible boss and a sexist, and calling him racially insensitive is underselling it. When a white man uses the n-word in a workplace in any context, is told that it’s hurtful in any context, and does it again, anyway, as the NBA says Sarver did … well, the word for that is racist. I don’t care that the NBA’s report says there was “no finding that Mr. Sarver’s workplace misconduct was motivated by racial or gender animus.” When you behave as the report says Sarver behaved, his motivation is not the point. What matters is how it makes other people feel.
Is it frustrating that a man like this gets to own an NBA team? Absolutely. Should that piss you off? Sure! Is it NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s job to kick him out of the league? Well …
I am not saying Silver’s punishment of Sarver—a one-year ban from owning the Suns and WNBA’s Mercury and $10 million fine—was enough. Everybody can have an opinion on that. But put yourself in Silver’s situation, and ask yourself how you would have dealt with this.
