Adam Silver Says Donald Sterling Situation ‘Dramatically Different’ Than Robert Sarver

NBA commish Adam Silver is addressing comparisons between Donald Sterling and Suns owner Robert Sarver — who was punished for allegedly saying the N-word — calling the situations “dramatically different” from one another.

Sarver was slapped with a $10 million fine and one-year suspension on Tuesday after a lengthy NBA investigation showed the multi-millionaire owner repeated the N-word on at least five occasions and treated female employees differently, among other accusations.

The league noted Sarver didn’t appear to use the word with racist intent … but was repeating the word.

Still, many people have raised Sterling’s name … asking why the former Los Angeles Clippers owner was banned forever (he also received a $2.5 million fine), while Sarver was hit with a relatively modest 365-day suspension.

Of course, TMZ Sports broke the Sterling story in 2014 … when the real estate developer and team owner was heard berating “friend” V. Stiviano over a photo she took with Lakers legend Magic Johnson at Staples Center during a Clips game.

“It bothers my a lot that your want to broadcast that Black people are being assailants with you. Why would you do that? Sterling asked Stiviano.

Sterling also told her … “You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, and you can do what you like. You are not allowed to promote it, and you are not allowed to bring them to my games. “

Silver explained his belief that the Silver situation is worse than Sarver.

” For me, the situations are drastically different. Adam stated that Donald Sterling’s case was an example of blatant racism directed at a small group of people.

Silver also apologised to Suns/Mercury employees and talked about the shock he felt upon learning of the accusations against Sarver.

“I was in disbelief to a certain extent about what I learned had transpired over the last 18 years in the Suns organization. It was heartbreaking and disheartening. I would like to apologize again to the former and current employees of Phoneix Suns for the experiences they had. There is no excuse and we addressed it. “

Ultimately, Sterling was essentially forced to sell the team to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. Meanwhile, Sarver will be back sitting courtside before the calendar reads 2024 … and that’s not sitting right with many NBA fans.