{"id":69612,"date":"2022-09-21T17:03:11","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T22:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=69612"},"modified":"2022-09-21T17:03:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T22:03:11","slug":"jewish-nba-wnba-owner-cites-faith-and-atonement-in-announcing-decision-to-sell-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/jewish-nba-wnba-owner-cites-faith-and-atonement-in-announcing-decision-to-sell-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish NBA, WNBA owner cites \u2018faith\u2019 and \u2018atonement\u2019 in announcing decision to sell teams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By JACOB GURVIS<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Robert Sarver, the Jewish owner of the NBA\u2019s Phoenix Suns and WNBA\u2019s Phoenix Mercury, announced Wednesday that he will seek buyers for the two franchises as he serves his one-year suspension for misconduct.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_69613\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-69613\" class=\"wp-image-69613 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-69613\" class=\"wp-image-69613 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/9-21-22-Sarver-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-69613\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver at the 2021 WNBA Finals at Footprint Center on October 13, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Sarver, a real estate businessman with a net worth of nearly $1 billion who purchased the teams in 2004, received the NBA\u2019s maximum fine of $10 million after an investigation found a pattern of inappropriate and abusive behavior including racist remarks and sexual harassment toward employees. Sarver reportedly used the N-word multiple times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a man of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness,\u201d Sarver said in a statement Wednesday, according to ESPN. \u201cI expected that the commissioner\u2019s one-year suspension would provide the time for me to focus, make amends and remove my personal controversy from the teams that I and so many fans love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 60-year-old Tucson native, who is a member of the Reform synagogue Temple Chai in Phoenix, appeared to be referencing&nbsp;teshuva, the Jewish idea of repentance that is a thematic centerpiece of the upcoming High Holidays.<\/p>\n<p>Sarver told the Arizona Jewish Post in 2011 that he has served on the board of and held fundraising roles at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and its Desert Caucus political action committee, and has been involved with the Tuscon Jewish Community Center and Jewish Family &amp; Children Services.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sarver further explained his decision to sell his two basketball franchises: \u201cBut in our current unforgiving climate, it has become painfully clear that that is no longer possible \u2014 that whatever good I have done, or could still do, is outweighed by things I have said in the past. For those reasons, I am beginning the process of seeking buyers for the Suns and Mercury.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Immediately after Sarver\u2019s suspension was announced last week, several NBA stars, including the Suns\u2019 Chris Paul, criticized the league for what the players deemed an inadequate punishment. Some called for Sarver to sell the team, or to face a lifetime ban.<\/p>\n<p>Sarver\u2019s suspension echoed that of Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder and former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, both of whom also happen to be Jewish and who similarly were accused of using their positions of power to mistreat their employees.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Jewish%20NBA%2C%20WNBA%20owner%20cites%20%E2%80%98faith%E2%80%99%20and%20%E2%80%98atonement%E2%80%99%20in%20announcing%20decision%20to%20sell%20teams\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":69613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1491],"tags":[8790,8795,8788,12560,12561],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69614,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69612\/revisions\/69614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}