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What’s good y’all. It’s Prince here with another Layup Lines, and I want to talk about Robert Sarver for a minute. The Phoenix Suns owner released a statement Wednesday saying he’s beginning the process of seeking buyers for both the Suns and Phoenix Mercury, bringing closer the end to a saga I was sure would drag out longer.
Rather than digging in and making the situation much more difficult, Sarver seems willing to bow out (read: cash out) a lot quieter than Donald Sterling — besides the disingenuous words in his statement.
There was certainly pressure for him to step away — from a Suns minority owner, a corporate sponsor and several NBA players — but he didn’t have to. Entitled billionaires typically require a little more than a few words to make them go away. So was there pressure behind the scenes to expedite his decision?
Players were the most vocal about their displeasure with the lenient one-year ban Sarver received from the league. That includes LeBron James, the Suns’ Chris Paul and most recently Draymond Green, who on Tuesday called for a vote of the other 29 owners to have Sarver removed.
A public ousting would have been much more embarrassing for Sarver, and it also would have furthered a precedent for how the other owners could be removed themselves. So, naturally, a vote is the last thing they would have wanted. Voting also would have required three-fourths of the owners to agree on Sarver’s removal, and whether or not it passed, anyone who voted against it would have had to answer why.
The heat Sarver brought on himself was starting to get a little too hot for the league, and by extension, the other owners. So his decision to sell just a week after the NBA announced findings of its investigation — and a week before teams host media days — saves them a lot of trouble. That’s not to say the other owners definitely played a quiet role in his decision to step away, but they absolutely benefit in it going away like this.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
When Robert Sarver sells the Phoenix Suns, the other 29 NBA team owners won’t be the only ones benefitting from it. Nope, Sarver himself, will be a big winner too.
That’s right, the “punishment” for his disgusting behavior as a person charged with running an NBA franchise is having to sell that franchise for almost $2 billion. Poor him.
My guy Sykes put the proper context around Sarver’s eventual sale. It’s not a punishment, it’s a privilege.
He makes it seem as if he’s just a boy who the world has chosen to punish for past misdeeds. Woe is him. He’s just another victim of the heinous cancel culture that eventually comes for us all.
But don’t get it twisted. Sarver is no victim here. What sort of victim leaves a situation where they’ve spent decades doing damage only to become $2 billion richer than they were in the first place?
Make no mistake — Sarver having to sell his team isn’t a punishment. If anything, it’s a privilege. One that only the richest of the rich could ever afford to have in our society.”
Shootaround
— Ranking NBA teams by future first-round draft picks, from least to most
— Is this photo of bald LeBron James fake?
— 15 photos from the Aces’ championship parade, Las Vegas’ first ever title parade.
— Are the Nets headed towards contention? Check out HoopsHype’s Nets season preview.
