Plus, the Aces are one win away from a WNBA championship.
Good morning, I’m Kevin Sweeney. The Aces look unstoppable.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 Is Robert Sarver’s punishment enough?
🏆 The inspirational story of Ian Mackay
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Did the NBA get Robert Sarver’s punishment right?
After a months-long investigation stemming from allegations of racism, misogyny and a toxic workplace environment directed at Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver, the NBA finally handed down a penalty: a yearlong suspension and a $10 million fine. The punishment comes at the heels of what Howard Beck believes was the NBA’s “toughest test yet” in standing as one of the nation’s most progressive sports leagues. But did the the NBA get it right?
The league’s investigation confirms serious misconduct
To the NBA’s credit, the league released the full report of the investigation. Among the key findings:
- Sarver used the n-word in the workplace multiple times, despite multiple people (including a player) telling him not to use it.
- Sarver made “inappropriate comments about the physical appearance” of women and made “sex-related comments toward female employees.” He also exposed his genitals to male employees.
- On multiple occasions, Sarver “made joking references to procuring women for NBA players to have sex with.”
In short, as Michael Rosenberg puts it, “Robert Sarver is a jerk, a horrible boss and a sexist, and calling him racially insensitive is underselling it.”
Why not kick him out of the league?
That’s exactly the question Rosenberg explores in his column. The situation here is far more complicated than when commissioner Adam Silver banned Donald Sterling from the league, because Sterling’s wife, Shelly, was there to take over the team and oversee a sale, thus avoiding an ugly legal battle. At a minimum, that legal fight would be long and not a guaranteed win. And what’s more, it could open up the league (and its owners) to further embarrassment.
Here’s Rosenberg on that conundrum:
Sarver’s legal team would probably try to use the legal process to get every inappropriate joke and comment from an owner into the public record, to show Sarver was being held to an unfair standard. That would create an enormous headache for the NBA.
In the end, Rosenberg comes to the following conclusion:
Outrage and pragmatism have to meet somewhere. It made sense for Silver to give Sarver the stiffest punishment he could indisputably implement. Could he have suspended Sarver for longer? Maybe. But a one-year ban does have some teeth, especially since Sarver’s NBA and WNBA teams could both have a chance to win the title next year. Owners buy these teams so they can make money and get the thrill of winning. Taking the latter away from Sarver does mean something.
So while Sarver’s behavior was gross, and there’s no guarantee this punishment will change him, Silver and the NBA may have found the right balance.
Aces take control of the WNBA Finals
The Aces are officially one win from the franchise’s first championship. After being held to a season-low 67 points in Game 1, Las Vegas got hot offensively and poured in 85 points, riding huge contributions from its three star players to take a commanding 2–0 series lead.
A’ja Wilson (26 points), Chelsea Gray (21 points) and Kelsey Plum (20 points) were all on top of their games from the opening tip. Plum in particular looked sharp early after really struggling from the field in Game 1. While Plum shot only 1-for-6 from three, she was active driving to the basket and also dished out seven assists, creating a two-headed monster in the backcourt with Gray.
Plum also got quite the push from Wilson, the league’s MVP. Ben Pickman was on the ground in Las Vegas:
Entering Game 2, star Aces forward A’ja Wilson felt that Plum “wasn’t herself.” “But [Tuesday], I saw KP, and I realized even in myself, like, I haven’t been talking trash to KP lately,” Wilson said after Game 2. The star forward’s message was simple: “I told her she needed to get her s--- together. At the end of the day that’s what she needs to do. Make sure she understood that we need her to make shots.”
And make shots she did. The Aces also had an unsung hero: physical forward Dearica Hamby. Hamby helped neutralize a very tough Connecticut frontcourt, and the Aces were +16 in her 18 minutes.
Now, Las Vegas gets three cracks at a championship, starting tomorrow night back in Connecticut. We’ll see then whether the Sun can make this series competitive or whether the Aces will make quick work of the title in coach Becky Hammon’s first season.
The best of Sports Illustrated
Jonathan Ferrey/Sports Illustrated
In today’s Daily Cover, Joseph Bien-Kahn tells the story of Ian Mackay, who was paralyzed in a bike accident in 2008 and has set the Guinness World Record for distance traveled in a motorized wheelchair in 24 hours.
Mackay drives his sip-and-puff-powered chair with a straw that extends from above his right armrest: A hard puff starts him forward, a soft puff turns him to the right and a soft sip sends him left. On top of the challenge of executing these maneuvers while fatigued, Mackay can no longer regulate his body heat. If his temperature falls too far or climbs too high, it could be fatal. And then there’s the risk of spasms, sores or infections from the long ride. (Since his incident, he hasn’t sat for more than 12 consecutive hours.)
Ross Dellenger takes you inside Clay Helton’s vision at Georgia Southern fresh off an upset win over Nebraska. Spoiler alert: Statesboro, Ga., is a lot different than the location of Helton’s last job in Los Angeles. … Jonathan Wilson analyzes Bayern Munich’s win over Barcelona in the Champions League and what to take away from the match for both clubs. … Richard Johnson highlights some rising NFL draft prospects whose names you should learn now. … Jennifer Piacenti highlights some waiver wire pickups that could help you win your fantasy football league.
Around the sports world
Aaron Judge went deep not once, but twice to push his tally to 57 in an extra-innings win over the Red Sox. … Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett says he made the wrong decision to go for a 64-yard field goal in Monday night’s disastrous finish against the Seahawks. … T.J. Watt won’t need surgery after suffering a pectoral injury Sunday and is expected to miss only around six weeks. … Plus, newly released text messages further illustrate Brett Favre’s involvement in a welfare fraud case in Mississippi.
The top five...
… things I saw yesterday.
5. Bobby Wagner’s Kobe Bryant tribute.
4. Chelsea Gray’s tough buckets.
3. College coaches accidentally trolling Iowa OC Brian Ferentz.
2. LeBron’s family photos from Vanity Fair.
1. The Browns’ new midfield logo.
SIQ
The Connecticut Sun find themselves in the unenviable position of being down 2–0 in the WNBA finals. No team has come back from a 2–0 since the WNBA moved to a best-of-five series in 2005. There have, though, been multiple sweeps. Who was the last team to get swept in the WNBA Finals?
Check tomorrow’s newsletter for the answer.
Yesterday’s SIQ: Geno Smith engineered the Seahawks to a win Monday night over former QB Russell Wilson and the Broncos in his first Week 1 start in eight seasons. Originally a second-round pick of the Jets, Smith was one of just three second-round QBs to start at quarterback in Week 1 this season. Who are the other two?
Answer: The Eagles’ Jalen Hurts and Raiders’ Derek Carr. In all, 23 of the 32 teams started quarterbacks drafted in the first round. Along with the three second-rounders, there were three third-round picks who started, two fourth-rounders and, Tom Brady, the lone sixth-round pick.
Smith was selected by the Jets with the No. 39 pick in the 2013 draft, while Carr came out a year later and went to the Raiders. Despite being passed on during the first 32 picks, both of these quarterbacks ended up becoming the best quarterbacks in their respective drafts. Even with Smith’s up-and-down career, the ’13 draft was notorious for its quarterback class. EJ Manuel was the only signal-caller picked ahead of Smith. Carr was picked after Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel and Teddy Bridgewater and selected with Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round in ’14.
Hurts came out in the 2020 NFL draft, which had four quarterbacks taken in the first round. Three of them, along with Hurts, started in Week 1 (Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa).
—Josh Rosenblat
From the Vault: Sept. 14, 1970
If you thought Arch Manning’s recruitment (and eventual commitment to Texas) was over the top, you should check out the fanfare leading into his grandpa’s 1970 season at Ole Miss. Archie Manning was a sensation in college. There was even something called “Archie Fever” going on, according to William F. Reed’s story. Reed details the numerous magazines who wanted Manning to be on the cover and explains how Manning was so in demand that Ole Miss created a rubber stamp for his signature and had a secretary who handled his mail.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Ole Miss Coach Johnny Vaught, who has seen his share in 24 years as head coach in Oxford. “I guess it’s the times, the desire to glorify athletes, like the [Joe] Namath thing. Thank goodness Archie is a smart man, a sensible man and he hasn’t let any of it go to his head. Why, I don’t think he even thinks about it.”
SI had high hopes for Ole Miss, ranking it second of the 20 teams it previewed in the issue. The preseason AP poll pegged them at No. 5. But the season didn’t quite go as planned. Though Manning finished third in Heisman voting that season, Ole Miss went 7–4 on the season, in part because of an injury to Manning.
—Josh Rosenblat
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