NBA moved the goalpost for Sarver despite decades of repugnant behavior

More than 10 months after a bombshell report from ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, independent investigators representing the NBA published the complete findings of their investigation into Phoenix Suns majority owner Robert Sarver. To the shock of no one within the Suns or Mercury organizations, the report details abhorrent tales of rampant misogyny, racial insensitivity and sexual misconduct from the Managing Partner of Arizona’s top professional basketball clubs.

In turn, the NBA declared that Sarver will serve a yearlong suspension from all basketball activities across both leagues and pay a $10 million fine, which will be donated across organizations addressing forms of racial and gender-based discrimination. That’s a nice start, but is this enough of a punishment? If it were one or two moderate examples of misconduct, then maybe, but we’re talking about decades worth of negligence that extends far beyond a few shortsighted remarks.

Investigation shows Sarver was consistently abhorrent and inconsiderate.

The comprehensive report, which was shared publically by the league, details instances when Sarver used the N-word despite repeatedly being told that he cannot do that, threatened the roles of women based on their pregnancy, made extensive sexual remarks, bullied his employees, berated others, and even exposed his genitalia.

Yet somehow, the NBA is blindly accepting the investigation’s claim that Saver did not act this way out of “racial or gender-based animus.” Why is the league moving the goalpost for someone who is blatantly disregarding the morals traditionally upheld by its institution?