On Sept. 12, Robert Sarver, owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, was suspended for one year and fined $10 million by the National Basketball Association. The 10 month-long investigation concluded that Sarver had routinely exhibited racist and misogynistic behavior around Suns employees.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Sarver, among other things, had repeatedly used the N-word, made inappropriate comments about female staffers, and had inappropriate physical conduct toward men. The league’s investigation, however, found that over the 18 years of Sarver’s misconduct, none of it was out of “racial or gender-based animus.”

Users on social media were quick to point out the blatant difference between Sarver’s light punishment compared to former Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling. 

Sterling was banned for life from the NBA after a video surfaced of him making racist comments towards Black players, including the Los Angeles Laker legend Magic Johnson. Sterling’s lifetime ban forced him to sell the team, an action that many were hoping Sarver would have to take.

On Sept. 14, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference to explain the league’s sentence. Silver mentioned that he was privy to information unavailable to the public which affected his decision. He also said, in regards to the Donald Sterling comparisons, that the situations were fundamentally different:

“What is lost, though, and differentiating between the facts in this situation and Donald Sterling, is the context. I have available to me more of a context than the public can, and that’s just the nature of it, because we have investigators who then can explain what they learned in 320 interviews and say, for example, well the person was there and heard those words, but this is how they interpreted them in that context. In the case of Sterling, we could all make our own judgment.”

Silver also insinuated that the owners of the league were held to a different standard than their players and employees, though NBA spokesman Mike Bass quickly clarified the commissioner’s comments.

Hours after Silver’s press conference, LeBron James voiced his disapproval of the NBA’s sentencing. The face of the league tweeted, “I love this league and I deeply respect our leadership. But this isn’t right. There is no place for misogyny, sexism and racism in any workplace… We hold our league up as an example of our values and this aint it.”

Chris Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players’ Association, agreed with James’ statements: “I am of the view that the sanctions fell short in truly addressing what we can all agree was atrocious behavior.”

Even Suns’ minority owner Jahm Najafi, controller of the second largest stake of the team, called for the resignation of Robert Sarver.

Sarver tried to petition the league for a lighter sentence, but ultimately agreed and issued an apology. He is expected to complete a training program on proper workplace conduct and will work to find an interim for the coming season.

The NBA has pledged to distribute the fines from Sarver to organizations committed to fixing race and gender-based issues in the workplace.