LANDOVER, MD – AUGUST 07: Washington Football Team owner Daniel Snyder looks on before the New England Patriots play the Washington Redskins during a preseason NFL game at FedExField on August 7, 2014 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Robert Sarver announced Wednesday that he will begin plans to sell the Phoenix Suns and Mercury.
News of an owner folding amid a public outcry has some calling for Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder to follow suit.
The NBA had issued Sarver a one-year suspension, but LeBron James and Suns star Chris Paul were among the many players to express their dismay over a lenient punishment.
Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, attorneys representing more than 40 Commanders employees, issued a statement urging others around the NFL to similarly hold Snyder accountable.
“We now need the NFL community, including players, owners, and corporate sponsors, to demonstrate the same outrage and moral strength as those in the NBA community and force accountability for these egregious actions,” the statement said, via ESPN’s John Keim. “Like Robert Sarver, Dan Snyder must go.”
Fans also expressed a desire to see Snyder sell the team.
Like Sarver, Snyder was investigated on allegations of creating a toxic workplace environment.
A former employee accused him of sexual assault and harassment in 2009, and a US House Oversight Committee determined that Snyder conducted a “shadow investigation” with the goal of burying findings from an internal probe.
Unlike the NBA, the NFL’s biggest stars haven’t publicly condemned the league for not taking a harsher stance.
Roger Goodell and the other 31 owners will unlikely oust Snyder. As was the case with finally changing the team’s racist name after years of refusal, strong outside pressure would probably be necessary to push Snyder out of the NFL.
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