Steph Curry has commented on the disciplinary action taken against Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver.
Golden State Warrior star player Steph Curry has stated that the disciplinary action taken against the Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver.
Speaking on the Robert Sarver issue for the first time on Sunday, Curry stated that he had private conversations with commissioner Adam Silver regarding the punishment handed down by the league.
“[I] got [Silver’s] point of view of what decisions and, I guess, mechanisms he had to intervene and bring down a punishment that was worthy of the actions that we were all responding to and representing the league as a whole and protecting the integrity of the league and the standard that we set terms of from execs, ownership, all the way down to players,” Curry said while addressing the situation during the Warriors’ media day. “There should be a standard around what’s tolerable and what’s not.”
The NBA announced on September 13 that Robert Sarver would be suspended for one year and fined $10 million after an independent investigation found that he used the N-word at least five times and was also involved in instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees, including “sex-related comments” and inappropriate comments on employees’ appearances.
The NBA’s announcement was met with reaction, as LeBron James, Chris Paul, Draymond Green and others spoke out and said the punishment wasn’t severe enough.
The Suns’ jersey patch sponsor, PayPal threatened to not renew their partnership with the team if Sarver remained owner. And Suns minority owner Jahm Najafi, the team’s second-largest stakeholder, called for Sarver to resign.
Sarver announced he is beginning the process to sell both the Suns and Mercury.
“I think the outcome was exactly what should have happened,” Curry said. “Honestly, I thought with the punishment that was handed down, it would have dragged out a little longer, but I’m glad we got to a point where hopefully the team is up for sale sooner than later and can kind of move on knowing that’s where it should be.”
Curry commended James, Paul and Green, his teammate on the Warriors, for using their public platforms to speak out on Sarver, and expressed appreciation to Silver for answering his call.
“The top players who have vested interests in protecting the league as well, all that stuff matters, and you want to have swift responses and reactions to stuff like that,” Curry said.
