Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry said that he spoke privately with NBA commissioner Adam Silver regarding Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver in recent weeks.
Curry, speaking at the team’s media day on Sunday, said he spoke with Silver about the punishment he and the league handed down after the investigation into Sarver, which was something many players and outsiders didn’t think went far enough.
“[I] got [Silver’s] point of view of what decisions and, I guess, mechanisms he had to intervene and bring down a punishment that was worthy of the actions that we were all responding to and representing the league as a whole and protecting the integrity of the league and the standard that we set terms of from execs, ownership, all the way down to players,” Curry said Sunday, via ESPN. “There should be a standard around what’s tolerable and what’s not.”
At this time, it is unclear if the Commissioner spoke to any other players outside of Curry, but there has been no shortage of opinions shared by other stars regarding the situation.
Silver announced earlier this month that the NBA was fining Sarver $10 million and suspending him for one year after their investigation into his workplace misconduct.
Among other things, the league found that Sarver used the N-word repeatedly, made inappropriate sexual and vulgar jokes, and demeaned female employees.
He has since announced that he plans on selling the Suns and Mercury.
Though he’s happy with how things have turned out, Curry is surprised with how quickly things have progressed. Now, he said, they can all move past this.
“I think the outcome was exactly what should have happened,” Curry said, via ESPN. “Honestly, I thought with the punishment that was handed down, it would have dragged out a little longer, but I’m glad we got to a point where hopefully the team is up for sale sooner than later and can kind of move on knowing that’s where it should be.”
Fellow teammate Draymond Green believes the NBA owners should’ve voted to determine Sarver’s fate, calling it “100% a fireable offense.”
Now, even after the plans to sell the team, Green stands by his call. In his eyes, a vote absolutely should have occurred.
“You know, if this is governed by a vote, then why isn’t there a vote,” Green said, via ESPN. “It’s a 100% fireable offense. It’s 100% forceable — to force a sale type of event. So why isn’t there a vote if that’s what has to happen?”
“I was very happy to see that he was selling the team because I think that’s right. When you look at some of the things that people has gotten in trouble over, I think that falls under the same boat. And we’re all a part of this league, and no one person is bigger than the league. If that goes for us as players, that goes across the board. We’re still all a part of the league, no matter what level you’re at.”
Stephen Curry and the Warriors hope this is one issue that will not overshadow the new NBA season coming up.
