What Next - Does the NBA Have a Bully Problem?
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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 29 September 2022
⏱️ 27 minutes
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Summary
Last week, Robert Sarver, the owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, announced he would be selling both teams. The decision came after ESPN revealed nearly two decades of harassing behavior by Sarver, and after the NBA slapped him with a one-year suspension and $10 million fine. How was Sarver’s bullying able to go unchecked for so long? Does his departure signal a positive step forward for professional U.S. basketball, or a continuation of the status quo?
Guest: Amira Rose Davis, assistant professor of Black studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and co-host of the feminist sports podcast, Burn It All Down.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sometimes running a business can feel like cycling uphill, with square wheels! |
| 0:10.0 | But zero online accounting software can help predict the future cash flow of your business. |
| 0:15.0 | So you can stay one step ahead. |
| 0:17.0 | Soon it'll feel more like freewheeling downhill. |
| 0:21.0 | On a tandem! |
| 0:22.0 | What, mate? |
| 0:23.0 | With a messer on the back. |
| 0:25.0 | Oh, that's nice. |
| 0:26.0 | Search zero with an ace. |
| 0:28.0 | It goes healthy business as beautiful business. |
| 0:37.0 | I have in my hands a 36-page report. |
| 0:41.0 | It's written by a law firm, Wachtel, Lipden, Rosen, and Katz. |
| 0:45.0 | And it's dated September 13th of this year. |
| 0:49.0 | This report is serious. |
| 0:51.0 | It details allegations of racism and sexism inside the MBA. |
| 0:55.0 | But as serious as this report is, it's almost impossible to read it and not chuckle to yourself. |
| 1:01.0 | Just a little. |
| 1:04.0 | Robert Sarver, the owner of the Phoenix Sons, and the Phoenix Mercury, |
| 1:08.0 | he is the target of this investigation. |
| 1:11.0 | And reading about the culture he created inside the MBA. |
| 1:15.0 | Sarver comes off like Michael Scott in the office. |
| 1:19.0 | Only turned up to 11. |
... |
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