Sources: Suns tab Garvin as interim governor

Phoenix Suns vice chairman and minority owner Sam Garvin has been appointed the team’s interim governor during majority owner Robert Sarver’s suspension, sources tell ESPN.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver authorized Garvin’s ascension to that position Wednesday night, sources said.

Sarver, who also is the majority owner of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, was suspended one year and fined $10 million Tuesday after an investigation found that he used the N-word at least five times “when recounting the statements of others.”

Sarver also was involved in “instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees,” including “sex-related comments” and inappropriate comments on employees’ appearances.

Garvin became the Suns’ alternate governor in 2007 and has been a minority owner since 2004, when Sarver led a group to buy the team for a then-record $401 million.

The NBA commissioned the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation after ESPN published a story in November 2021 detailing allegations of racism and misogyny during Sarver’s 17 years as owner.

After the story was published, the team released a statement from some members of the ownership group that supported Sarver. Garvin was one of the members of the group that signed the statement, which was posted on the team’s website.

Sources previously told ESPN that Sarver would be working with the NBA to appoint an interim governor.

While the NBA stated that he “cooperated fully with the investigative process,” league sources told ESPN that Sarver was unaccepting of the idea that he deserved a one-year suspension and a $10 million fine for his behavior. The punitive part of the process became largely acrimonious, sources said.