LeBron James and Chris Paul say the NBA's punishment for Suns owner Robert Sarver fell short

• The NBA suspended Robert Sarver for a year and fined him $10 million after an investigation found he used the "N-word" and made sexual comments to employees.
• LeBron James and Chris Paul took to Twitter to say the NBA's punishment of Sarver didn't go far enough.

LeBron James and Chris Paul, two of the NBA's most vocal leaders, expressed disappointment in the NBA's punishment for Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver.

The NBA on Tuesday announced that Sarver would be suspended for one year, fined $10 million, and be forced to undergo workplace conduct training. The $10 million fine is the maximum allowed by the NBA.

While suspended, Sarver cannot attend any Suns or Mercury events, be present in any NBA or WNBA facility, publicly or privately represent the teams, or have any involvement with the teams or leagues.

The punishment followed a nearly year-long investigation into the Suns' workplace culture, following an explosive report from ESPN in November about Sarver's behavior. Among the findings in the investigation was that Sarver used the "N-word" at least five times (while quoting players) and made inappropriate, sex-related comments toward male and female employees.

On Wednesday, LeBron James took to Twitter to say he disapproved of the NBA's punishment.

"I gotta be honest…Our league definitely got this wrong," James wrote on Twitter, adding: "I said it before and I'm gonna say it again, there is no place in this league for that kind of behavior."

Chris Paul, who is the Suns point guard and president of the National Basketball Players Association, also tweeted that the punishment fell short of his expectations.

"I am of the view that the sanctions fell short in truly addressing what we can all agree was atrocious behavior," Paul tweeted.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters on Wednesday that he had spoken to several players about the investigation, but that he'd keep their sentiments private. Silver did say that many of the Black players and coaches in the NBA were "not as shocked as I am" about Sarver's behavior.

The situation has parallels to the NBA's ouster of former Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2014. Sterling had been recorded telling his girlfriend not to interact with Black people at Clippers games.

Sterling was later banned from the NBA and forced to sell the Clippers.

On Wednesday, Silver called Sarver's behavior "indefensible." However, when Sports Illustrated's Howard Beck argued that an employee in any other field would be fired for such behavior, Silver said that Sarver's ownership of the team complicated punishment.

"There are particular rights here of someone who owns an NBA team as opposed to somebody who is an employee," Silver said.

"The equivalent of a $10 million fine and a one-year suspension, I don't know how to measure that against a job ... I don't have the right to take away his team. I don't want to rest on that legal point because, of course, there could be a process to take away someone's team in this league. It's very involved, and I ultimately made the decision that [Sarver's behavior] didn't rise to that level."

The investigation into Sarver and the Suns, which was conducted by an independent law firm, found that Sarver's use of the "N-word" was not "with the intent to demean or denigrate."

Silver said on Wednesday, "It's beyond the pale in every possible way to use language and behave that way, but that it was wholly of a different kind than what we saw in that [Sterling] case."