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Ben Golliver: The Rev. Al Sharpton has issued a statement saying that the NBA’s one-year suspension and $10 million fine for Suns owner Robert Sarver is insufficient. - Sharpton wants the NBA to ban Sarver for “egregious acts of racism and misogyny.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton has issued a statement saying that the NBA’s one-year suspension and $10 million fine for Suns owner Robert Sarver is insufficient.
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 13, 2022
- Sharpton wants the NBA to ban Sarver for “egregious acts of racism and misogyny.” pic.twitter.com/ZhGwqolM9l
Rev. Al Sharpton remains relentless when it comes to Phoenix Suns team owner Robert Sarver. The civil rights leader wrote PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman, in an open letter that appeared in the Sunday edition of The Arizona Republic, demanding the billion-dollar digital payment company cease its relationship with Sarver, the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Spanish soccer club Real Club Deportivo Mallorca.
“As someone who has dedicated my life to fighting injustice and speaking out against hate in all its forms, it is my duty and responsibility to call out such hypocrisy and to call on PayPal to uphold the values for which it proclaims to stand,” Sharpton wrote.
A coalition of social justice activists is demanding the ouster of Robert Sarver as majority owner of the Suns, citing the numerous accounts of racist and sexist behavior revealed in an ESPN story last November. The group—which includes members of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network—detailed its concerns in a March 11 letter sent to NBA commissioner Adam Silver and on a website it launched today, under the hashtag: #SackSarver.
Josh Okogie: I think the biggest thing I can take away from this whole thing is just what a different time it is. I’m 21. I haven’t been around long, but it’s the first time that I’ve seen everybody, in terms of different races, coming together to fight for Black people. I know when Martin Luther King marched, there were white people and white Americans and different races marching with them. But I go out now and look at some of these protests and there are more white people than Black people. I’ve never seen that before. When I went to the memorial and when Reverend Al Sharpton spoke, he said something to me as well. He even alluded to it. He said: this is a different time. He said back in the day when he used to March, he would see a white counterpart come up to him, use the n-word, and tell him to go home. He was saying that last week he was at the airport talking to somebody, and a young white lady grabbed his suit andtold him no justice, no peace. That moment in itselftold him that it’s a different time, and it’s the time for a change. The one thing I take away from this is that we have people now that are fighting for us.
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Sam Amick: Sacramento native and longtime NBA vet Matt Barnes stood with Reverend Al Sharpton at Stephon Clark’s funeral today. Story to come on the part he has played here in his hometown
Sacramento native and longtime NBA vet Matt Barnes stood with Reverend Al Sharpton at Stephon Clark’s funeral today. Story to come on the part he has played here in his hometown pic.twitter.com/ECyKRMwBxP
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) March 29, 2018
The Rev. Al Sharpton and his civil rights organization, the National Action Network, released a statement Monday calling for Dolan to lift the ban on Oakley. The NAN threatened to protest outside the Garden if Dolan does not comply with the demand.
Al Sharpton tells TMZ Sports ... he's been a part of discussions with NBA Commish Adam Silver on how to handle the situation with racist Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson. Sharpton -- who previously sat down with Adam Silver in the middle of the Donald Sterling crisis -- tells us, "In the discussions we've been having with the Commissioner, they said they were gonna vet everyone out [before allowing a sale of the team]."
Things are about to get real serious for the NBA ... Al Sharpton tells TMZ Sports he's planning on contacting the NBA's major advertisers to get them to pull their sponsorship if the league does not suspend Donald Sterling ASAP. Sharpton spoke to our photog Sunday afternoon at LaGuardia Airport, where he called on the NBA to take immediate action against Sterling ... since the Clippers owner has not denied making the racist remarks published by TMZ Sports. Sharpton used very pointed language, saying, "What is there to investigate? He should be suspended immediately. Let's quit stalling, let's quit copping out, NBA. Let him go."
Turns out Donald Sterling, Clippers owner being investigated by the NBA for allegedly making "disturbing and offensive" remarks, was set to be honored by the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP next month. Sterling was supposed to get a lifetime achievement award at a gala celebrating the organization's 100th birthday on May 15 alongside other honorees such as Al Sharpton and Mayor Eric Garcetti.
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