Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie is pursuing an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas worth roughly $12-$13 billion. More than two decades ago, a future NBA owner pitched the same idea and was shut down almost immediately. According to Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, David Stern’s reason was something that would be hard to imagine in today’s NBA.

“Twenty-two years ago, I walked into David Stern’s office in New York with Robert Sarver,” Kerr said to the press before the Warriors’ preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

“And he wanted to start an expansion team in Las Vegas, and that was his plan. So, I met Robert; I didn’t know him before that. He asked me if I could introduce him to Stern, and we went into David Stern’s office, and David Stern said, ‘There’s no way we’re having a franchise in Las Vegas because of the gambling stuff.'”

David Stern served as the NBA’s commissioner between 1984 and 2014. Kerr explained that the incident occurred in 2004 and “everything’s changed a lot since then,” including Sarver’s life.

He was the owner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury. However, in 2022, an NBA-commissioned investigation by the law firm Wachtell Lipton found evidence of workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies during his time as owner of the Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

The investigation began in November 2021 and involved interviews with 320 people and more than 80,000 documents.

So what were the charges exactly? The NBA asked the law firm to look into Sarver’s actions, and the investigation reportedly lasted almost a year.

The report found that Sarver used demeaning language towards female employees and “repeated or purported to repeat the N-word on at least five occasions spanning his tenure with the Suns.”

The report made no finding that his conduct was motivated by racial or gender-based animus.

After the findings came to light, the NBA suspended him for a period of one year. During this time, he was not allowed to be present at any NBA or WNBA facility, arena, or office. He was also banned from any related events or activities, including business partner activities.

The NBA levied the maximum $10 million fine at the time as well. Sarver addressed the investigation’s findings and apologized to employees, while saying he disagreed with “some of the particulars” of the report.

“I take full responsibility for what I have done,” he said. “I am sorry for causing this pain, and these errors in judgment are not consistent with my personal philosophy or my values.”

In 2023, Sarver sold both teams to Matt Ishbia for $4 billion.

More than two decades after Stern rejected his pitch, Sarver’s Las Vegas idea is now closer to reality than ever, without him.

Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban has joined Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie in pursuing said expansion in Las Vegas as per Sports Business Journal. Three groups are finalists for the expansion team.

Apart from the aforementioned Durban-Laurie group, the Marc Lasry-Steve Apostolopoulos group and the Bill Foley-Jerry Colangelo group are also interested in the deal.

Franchise bids are expected to be in the $9 billion range, with arena proposals adding roughly $3 billion, bringing the total investment to around $12 billion. ESPN has estimated the overall cost at $12 billion to $13 billion.

The league could pick its preferred group by the end of November, with a formal approval process expected in December. If approved, the team could debut in the 2028-29 or 2029-30 season, depending on its arena plan.