Sharpton wants Sarver out as owner
He promises action if NBA investigation drags
The Rev. Al Sharpton has put the NBA on notice regarding the NBA’s investigation of Robert Sarver.
If the league hasn’t provided him a significant update on the progress of it by the time he has his National Action Network’s national convention April 6-9 in New York, Sharpton plans to take “direct action” in Phoenix after the convention.
“I do not understand why Sarver is still there,” Sharpton said of the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury franchises.
The NBA launched an investigation into Sarver for alleged acts of racism and misogyny that created a toxic work environment in the Suns organization, as detailed in an ESPN report back in November.
“I’ve told (the NBA) that if I can not hear where they are in terms of a timeline or maybe a decision by then, then I’ll probably be announcing some direct action probably in Phoenix after my convention in April,” Sharpton said.
Sharpton visited Phoenix in 2010 to protest Arizona’s controversial immigration bill known as SB1070, which was passed into law and caused an immediate national backlash. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually struck down some of its controversial provisions, though others remained in place.
He’ll look to return if he’s not satisfied with where the NBA is in its ongoing investigation, NBA spokesperson Mike Bass recently told Sports Illustrated.
“I came out there and led demonstrations around the immigration stuff and I have allies in Phoenix and I’m not going to let this die in the public,” Sharpton said Friday.
Sharpton said he talked to “leading officials of the NBA” Friday for nearly 20 minutes about the situation.
“If they think it’s going to die on the vine, I wanted them to know that’s not going to happen,” Sharpton added.
Sharpton reiterated his point on his weekly radio show Saturday in New York.
“We want (the NBA) to close the investigation and remove (Sarver) or tell us the timetable by the convention,” Sharpton said Saturday. “Otherwise, I have a song I play every once in a while from Isaac Hayes called ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix.’”
Laughter ensued in the room, but Sharpton wasn’t done.
“We’ll be out there in big numbers,” he continued. “We are not going to allow people to affect the culture in the NFL or the NBA and insult us and act like that’s acceptable behavior. They think because it was November, everybody would forget about it. And that’s why we wanted to put that pressure on. We are on the Phoenix Suns.”
Sarver strongly denied the allegations when the ESPN report dropped and said he welcomed the NBA’s investigation.
“I’m confident we will be vindicated when all is said and done,” Sarver said during an interview with The Republic posted Nov. 5, 2021.
The investigation is in its fifth month. “We take the allegations contained in ESPN’s report very seriously and directed the Wachtell Lipton law firm to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the matter,” said Bass in a statement to SI. “That investigation is ongoing and once completed, its findings will provide the basis for any action the NBA may take.”
Sharpton on Friday told The Republic he appreciates the investigation, but is concerned with it is “dragging on to the point where they’re trying to make the public forget” about it.
Sarver was set to be interviewed by investigators this month, ESPN reported.
“It does not take this long to investigate these multiple, multiple complaints,” Sharpton said.
Sharpton spoke on Sarver allegedly using the N-word and “treating human beings like his property” as detailed in the ESPN report.
“This is the kind of conduct that is toxic and racist behavior that ought not to be tolerated,” Sharpton said. “As a society, we can not rubber stamp this type of misconduct. Certainly I think the NBA should agree with that and this is what I expressed to them.”
Sharpton also addressed the video of Sarver making sexually explicit jokes while posthumously roasting fellow team owner Dick Heckmann in April 2021.
“That tells me all I really need to know about him,” Sharpton said. “The way he spoke about women in that video.”
Heckmann’s wife, Wendy, said in an interview with TrueHoop about Sarver’s comments that no one “laughed harder” than her at the roast.
“It was a joke,” she said “If you knew my husband, my husband was a jokester, I wasn’t upset, I think I laughed harder than anyone.”
Still, Sharpton said the roast video is a snapshot of Sarver’s “world” and he’s not the only one concerned about the investigation.
Worried no action will be taken if it continues to prolong, especially with the Suns (57-14 prior to Sunday’s game) having a special season, a newly formed coalition, American Sports Accountability Project, sent NBA Commissioner Adam Silver a letter dated March 11, 2022 that calls for the NBA to oust Sarver.
“Committed to bringing accountability to perpetrators of hate speech, abuse, and harassment within the leadership of the American sports industry” as part of its mission statement, ASAP launched its website Thursday with a #SackSarver hashtag.
Members of Sharpton’s National Action Network signed the letter, which was copied to the NBA’s Board of Governors as Sarver is one of them being the Suns team owner
“There is a zero tolerance for such behavior in today’s society and we expect the NBA and its leadership hold Mr. Sarver accountable for these despicable actions, as was done in the case of Donald Sterling,” the letter said.
The league banned Sterling, the former Clippers team owner, for life from the NBA and fined him $2.5 million following an investigation into alleged racist comments he made over the phone to his ex-girlfriend, V. Stiviano. He eventually was forced to sell the team.
Sharpton said he was part of the “civil rights leadership” that spoke to Silver about Sterling back in 2014.
“In that meeting, he made multiple promises to us and civil rights leadership that he would not tolerate bigotry of any kind within the league and has seemed to live up to it,” Sharpton said.
Sharpton wants him to take the same approach with Sarver.
“We want to see him deal with the situation in this case with Sarver that he did with Sterling,” Sharpton added.
The league revealed that the investigators didn’t find any evidence Mavs owner Mark Cuban was aware of former team president and CEO Terdema Ussery’s actions. Ussery was found to have had “improper workplace conduct” with 15 female employees in the form of inappropriate comments, touching, and forcible kissing.
Cuban remained team owner and agreed to contribute $10 million to organizations “committed to supporting the leadership and development of women in the sports industry and combating domestic violence.”
The NBA also required the Mavs to provide quarterly reports on specific recommendations.