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Because of racist and sexist statements, the NBA Suns owner Robert Sarver (middle) occupied, among other things, with a ban of over a year
Photo: Ralph Freso/AP
Owner Robert Sarver announced the sale of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday.
The move comes just eight days after he was banned for a year and fined $10 million by the NBA.
Sarver is said to have made racist and sexist comments and treated basketball team staff unprofessionally for years.
A report by the NBA shows that Sarver used the N-word five times and made inappropriate comments about the appearance of female employees.
Many players in the league felt the punishment was too mild.
NBA superstar LeBron James also complained publicly.
The sale is "the best solution," although he originally hoped to retain control of the franchises.
"But in our current unforgiving climate it has become painfully clear that this is no longer possible - that whatever good I have done or might do is outweighed by things I have said in the past," Sarver wrote in a statement.
"For these reasons, I'm starting to look for buyers for the Suns and Mercury."
Sarver bought the NBA (Suns) and women's professional league WNBA (Mercury) teams in July 2004 for around $400 million.
Forbes magazine recently valued the Suns at $1.8 billion.
Demand for resignation after NBA ruling
NBA boss Adam Silver described Sarver's punishment as harsh but appropriate last Tuesday and pointed out that he knew more about the results of the investigation than the general public.
He also emphasized that there are high constitutional hurdles in the United States for taking someone's property - and Sarver is not an employee or director.
Phoenix Suns vice chairman Jahm Najafi asked Sarver to resign last Thursday.
Now he reacted with the sale announcement.
cev/dpa