Report: Robert Sarver 'Angry' Punishment Was Harsher than Mark Cuban's After Probe

Robert Sarver announced he will begin the process of selling both the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury, but it's clear he isn't happy with the situation.

Baxter Holmes and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported Sarver's reaction after the NBA announced his initial one-year suspension:

"The owner had not taken the punishment well, sources said. He was angry and wanted to know why his punishment was more severe than Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban's after Wachtell Lipton had conducted a similar investigation into the corporate culture in 2018."

"Silver explained the differences in the findings of the two investigations -- Cuban had presided over a poor organizational culture but had not been accused of misconduct himself."

The NBA's investigation determined Sarver repeatedly used the N-word while also engaging in harsh treatment of employees and inequitable conduct toward female employees.

Holmes initially provided a detailed look of Sarver's conduct in the workplace over 17 years with the Suns, featuring allegations of racially insensitive language and misogyny.

As Sarver noted, the Dallas Mavericks also had an investigation into workplace conduct after a 2018 report by Jon Wertheim and Jessica Luther of Sports Illustrated. Many of the allegations were against former team president Terdema Ussery and team reporter Earl Sneed.

An NBA investigation determined the Mavericks management was ineffective and lacked compliance, but they "found no evidence that Mr. Cuban was aware of Mr. Ussery’s misconduct."

There were interviews with 215 witnesses but none informed Cuban of the situation at the time. Both the Mavericks and Suns investigations used the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

It allowed Cuban to avoid suspension or worse, while Sarver's direct actions led to his punishment.

According to Shelburne, commissioner Adam Silver also put "pressure" on Sarver to sell the team after a blowback from the initial ruling.