The N.B.A.’s report on Robert Sarver, which detailed a long history of disturbing behavior, says a great deal about how power, racism, and sexism intersect—and how power actually plays out in institutions like the N.B.A.
describing a long history of alleged sexist and racist behavior by Robert Sarver, the owner of the N.B.A.’s Phoenix Suns and the W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury. Former employees and coaches accused Sarver of saying the N-word, repeatedly, even after he was implored to stop. They said he talked about condoms in business meetings, pulled down the pants of an employee during an ice-bucket challenge, and passed around pictures of his wife in a bikini.
The N.B.A. not only prides itself on its progressive bona fides but promotes itself that way. After the article appeared, the league lumbered into action, and did what the big sports leagues do: it contacted lawyers. The law firm Wachtell Lipton began an investigation, interviewing Sarver and hundreds of people who worked for him, and reviewing eighty thousand pages of e-mails, texts, and other documents.
This is how the report explains most of Sarver’s actions: as the result of a sense of humor that was “sophomoric and inappropriate for the workplace.” That conclusion leans heavily on the fact that he apparently offended indiscriminately—men and women, Black people and white people. He delighted in making everyone uncomfortable.
In a strict sense, the report is probably right: Sarver was playing petty power games. The N.B.A. seems to have decided that this makes his behavior, though unacceptable, forgivable—even if the ten-million-dollar fine is the largest allowed, a year away from his teams is hardly a reckoning. Viewed from another perspective, though, the report’s conclusion says a great deal about how power, racism, and sexism intersect—and how power actually plays out in institutions like the N.B.A.
Sarver has been among the “good guys” in the N.B.A.’s social-justice efforts. He has invested in a W.N.B.A. team, spoken out against a racist immigration law, and donated millions of dollars to local nonprofits. The Suns employ a league-leading percentage of people of color. That’s a good thing; it’s also a very rich person’s version of having Black friends. “A big part of what the N.B.A.
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