Robert Sarver, the owner of the NBA team the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA team the Phoenix Mercury, was involved in a huge controversy recently. According to AP, Sarver was under investigation for several months. The investigation ensued after the NBA was made aware of Sarver’s alleged inappropriate and harsh behavior against his employees. Consequently, the NBA suspended Sarver for one year and fined him $10 million. Although Sarver had accepted most of the accusations from the report, made after the inquiry, he has also denied some of the claims.
Following the suspension, Sarver recently announced that he has decided to sell the Suns and the Mercury. This decision came after several officials and sports personalities condemned Sarver’s behavior. The chief of the National Basketball Players Association, Tamika Tremaglio, demanded Sarver be banned for life. Furthermore, the Suns’ major sponsor declared that they would not extend their deal with the team if the team involved Sarver.
“I do not want to be a distraction,” said Sarver. “I want what’s best for these two organizations, the players, the employees, the fans, the community, my fellow owners, the NBA, and the WNBA,” said Sarver.
Subsequently, the Suns’ owner is now currently looking for potential buyers for the team, and several big names of interested buyers have come up. According to ESPN, the CEO of Amazon seems to be one of them.
Along with Jeff Bezos, the names of former Disney CEO Bob Iger, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and the minority owner of the Washington Wizards Laurene Powell Jobs have also come up as interested buyers. Notably, the estimated price of the NBA team is $1.92 billion.