Last September, the NBA made waves when the league decided to levy punishment towards former Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver following a lengthy investigation. The league fined Sarver $10 million dollars and suspended him for a year from both the Suns and Phoenix Mercury after he made some inappropriate comments in the workplace. In the end, Sarver decided that selling the NBA franchise (and its WNBA subsidiary) he has owned since 2004 was for the best.
Five months later, it seems like Sarver isn't done making amends for his mistakes just yet. On Thursday night, Sarver reportedly gave around 250-300 qualified employees a $20,000 bonus, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN. In addition, Sarver also donated $5 million to the Suns' team charity. At least one employee appreciated the gesture from the outgoing owner.
“I will say, what a classy way to move on,” one unnamed Suns employee said.
Whether Robert Sarver's generous donation is enough for reparations, that remains unclear. After all, Sarver leaves as Suns owner with a tarnished reputation, both for his workplace conduct and confusing personnel decisions.
As one might recall, the league's investigation found that Sarver was guilty of saying the “n-word” at least five times on multiple occasions. Moreover, Sarver reportedly became inappropriate with female employees, making many “sex-related” comments that made some feel uncomfortable. To top it all off, Sarver also had the tendency to curse and yell at his employees.
He has also overseen some perplexing decisions from the Suns front office during the mid-2000s. In particular, there was a stretch where the Suns, instead of rounding out their contending core around Steve Nash, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Shawn Marion, decided to trade away their first-round picks for cash considerations.
Suns fans will be hoping that the franchise they love wouldn't run into the same kind of issues with new majority owner Mat Ishbia at the helm. Ishbia bought a 57 percent controlling stake in the Suns franchise back in December. The league formally approved the sale on February 7, just in time for Ishbia to make his first splash – trading for Kevin Durant.
Nevertheless, as controversial as his stint was as Suns owner, Robert Sarver, at the very least, decided to go out on a high note.
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