Allegations of racism and misogyny within the Phoenix Suns: Inside Robert Sarver's 17-year tenure as owner

[pickle]

I think most of us share the same feelings on this report, so I won't just keep beating this dead horse.

The one thing I do want to point out though, is that all of these accusations don't particularly paint Sarver as a racist per se, more so that he's racially insensitive, kind of like how Watson himself summarized it...

Also a little ironic that Sarver is being criticized for preferring Hunter/Watson for being black... the way he phrased it is obviously totally fucked up, but the sentiment behind it, that the league's players are predominantly black and therefore hiring a coach who can relate to them better is not inherently racist... or is he racist for assuming that just by being black Hunter/Watson automatically relate to the players better than Majerle? I'm a little confused myself on this point. I just think that we'd kill him in the court of public opinion had he insisted on Majerle over Watson too...

Obviously I hate Sarver as a team owner and based on these reports and other information we've picked up in the past as Suns fans I hate him as a person too.

Did you not catch the part where he used the N-word? That is your controversy. Not saying a black coach relates better to black players.

I did. I specifically said that the way he phrased it was fucked up. Guess that wasn't enough of a disclaimer.

Fundamentally I think there's a difference in his attitude towards race vs. Sterling's case. Sterling, as I understood it, was accused of lowballing black employees because they were black, whereas any lowballing Sarver did appears to be because he's just cheap as fuck, and the N word stuff feels a little more like he has no idea how to behave and be respectful and says things to be cool... along with the other talking about his sex life and showing pictures of his wife in a bikini incidents. In fact from this particular article I get the sense that he's far more misogynistic than he is racist.

Am not trying to defend him in any way.

[pickle]

I feel like Sarver's behavior, as described in one of the tweets Shel posted, is more like the Old Boys Club type. He just feels that he, personally, is superior to everybody else. He doesn't necessarily single out a particular race to be nasty to them specifically. But the misogyny feels very real.

Not saying that his behavior is any less deplorable.

[Superbone]

I finally finished reading the article. I want Sarver gone! What a horrible, toxic work environment. Come on, where there's smoke, there's fire. And a whole lot of people are suffocating here.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm sure the vast majority of Suns fans want Sarver to sell the team or whatever it takes to remove him as the face of the organization.

It's just not easy to achieve if he's not willing to admit to these accusations. I don't really have an idea of what the NBA could do to Sarver if they never get anything besides testimonial evidence for the truly offensive speech regarding race and misogyny.

If they can't forcibly remove him or divest in the franchise, are they going to fine him? Take away draft picks? A lot of stuff like that hurts people who haven't been involved, so it wouldn't make much sense. I just don't know where the NBA goes with their findings.

[Gladiator]

I love the photo they chose of Sarver.

Like I said before, Sarver has resting asshole face. It's hard to find a photo where he doesn't look like that.

How about this one?

Surely that photo alone is enough to see him gone?!!!??

[Suns_Dave]

Sarver can be a difficult boss all he wants, but creating a TOXIC work environment where multiple levels of leadership are reportedly permissive of sexual harassment/assault is absolutely unacceptable. If some of the more egregious allegations are true, heads WILL roll in that HR department.

In a typical public firm, you’d have a board of directors or maybe a group of shareholders with a controlling interest who have the authority to replace the CEO. In the Suns case, there doesn’t seem to be a similar mechanism for the ownership group to remove Sarver as suns governor or even ensure he meets any kind of minimum standard of performance. This is a catastrophic failure of organizational governance.

But Sarver’s contract with the Suns ownership group is not the only agreement he is bound to. The league of course has its own set of laws and bylaws for franchise owners. Will be interesting to see what legal authorities the league may exercise in this case.

What a mess. I have no idea what happens to Sarver, if anything at all, but I’m sad for the employees who had and continue to deal with the toxicity of that place. All I want is good quality wholesome Suns basketball on the court and a respectable organization behind the scenes. Bring honor to our city and our state.

[Mori Chu]

Who was it here who had that shirtless Sarver as their avatar for a long time? My eyes are still recovering from it.

[virtual9mm]

Regardless of the truth of some of these allegations, it just isn't fun dwelling on this, so you might see me and a bunch of other folks being pretty disengaged this season. And this is what I hate about all of this, it was a hatchet job.

And I am sure Rich Paul is behind a lot of this.

Dude, did you just crawl out of a time capsule from the 50’s?

You call being depantsed a hatchet job? Or Telling staff they “own you”? Telling a coach to fire their agent or they’re fired a hatchet job? Telling people in a mtg you wear Magnum condoms? Or sending pics of your wife in a bikini? Telling staff they should get strippers pregnant by players to keep them around? Drop Nwords in contexts you think is acceptable?

I don't trust anything that Earl Watson says and I place much greater weight on what Steve Kerr and Jones say. We are putting a man on trial in the court of public opinion on rumors and hearsay and the word of a disgruntled, toxic employee.

A work environment like this is pretty terrible but is it racist or sexist? We don't have clear evidence of this, although what Williamson has mentioned resonates with me to a degree.

Is he a jackass? Yes, and if it helps the minority owners take control, all the more power to them. But I thought that the article did a bait-n-switch, accusing him of racism and sexism then providing mainly evidence that he was a jackass, something we all knew. But that isn't legal grounds for removing an owner.

Do I like Sarver? No. Do I think these allegations are true? Who knows? Do I think depantsing is ok? No. But do I think it is sexual harassment? Not the way it was described.

So, let's think calmly about this and ask ourselves what we are really saying, because fine lines seem to matter here. But regardless what else comes out of it, I am turned off and this really dampens my enthusiasm for the team. Which is what Rich Paul and Earl Watson really wanted.

I would have asked Watson to choose between a job at the Suns and Rich Paul as well. That man is manipulative and toxic. Just another type of it.

[virtual9mm]

BTW we have no idea whether he dropped racial slurs, you are taking Watson's word for this. Do you really believe he is an impartial observer here? I see an agenda.

[Superbone]

Who was it here who had that shirtless Sarver as their avatar for a long time? My eyes are still recovering from it.

‘Bazz. I had to beg him to take it down.

[Superbone]

Regardless of the truth of some of these allegations, it just isn't fun dwelling on this, so you might see me and a bunch of other folks being pretty disengaged this season. And this is what I hate about all of this, it was a hatchet job.

And I am sure Rich Paul is behind a lot of this.

Dude, did you just crawl out of a time capsule from the 50’s?

You call being depantsed a hatchet job? Or Telling staff they “own you”? Telling a coach to fire their agent or they’re fired a hatchet job? Telling people in a mtg you wear Magnum condoms? Or sending pics of your wife in a bikini? Telling staff they should get strippers pregnant by players to keep them around? Drop Nwords in contexts you think is acceptable?

I don't trust anything that Earl Watson says and I place much greater weight on what Steve Kerr and Jones say. We are putting a man on trial in the court of public opinion on rumors and hearsay and the word of a disgruntled, toxic employee.

A work environment like this is pretty terrible but is it racist or sexist? We don't have clear evidence of this, although what Williamson has mentioned resonates with me to a degree.

Is he a jackass? Yes, and if it helps the minority owners take control, all the more power to them. But I thought that the article did a bait-n-switch, accusing him of racism and sexism then providing mainly evidence that he was a jackass, something we all knew. But that isn't legal grounds for removing an owner.

Do I like Sarver? No. Do I think these allegations are true? Who knows? Do I think depantsing is ok? No. But do I think it is sexual harassment? Not the way it was described.

So, let's think calmly about this and ask ourselves what we are really saying, because fine lines seem to matter here. But regardless what else comes out of it, I am turned off and this really dampens my enthusiasm for the team. Which is what Rich Paul and Earl Watson really wanted.

I would have asked Watson to choose between a job at the Suns and Rich Paul as well. That man is manipulative and toxic. Just another type of it.

Did you read the article? You act like it’s all just Watson. 70 people complained. 70! I have no doubt. None. That there is a toxic environment in the organization. One woman contemplated suicide. This clown needs to go. He is ruining our Suns.

[Superbone]

Read the thread, but how do we get this guy in as the majority owner?

This is an interesting dynamic coming from a minority owner. He’s not holding back. There is some bad blood here. He talks like he’s in the know.

[ShelC]

[virtual9mm]

Regardless of the truth of some of these allegations, it just isn't fun dwelling on this, so you might see me and a bunch of other folks being pretty disengaged this season. And this is what I hate about all of this, it was a hatchet job.

And I am sure Rich Paul is behind a lot of this.

Dude, did you just crawl out of a time capsule from the 50’s?

You call being depantsed a hatchet job? Or Telling staff they “own you”? Telling a coach to fire their agent or they’re fired a hatchet job? Telling people in a mtg you wear Magnum condoms? Or sending pics of your wife in a bikini? Telling staff they should get strippers pregnant by players to keep them around? Drop Nwords in contexts you think is acceptable?

I don't trust anything that Earl Watson says and I place much greater weight on what Steve Kerr and Jones say. We are putting a man on trial in the court of public opinion on rumors and hearsay and the word of a disgruntled, toxic employee.

A work environment like this is pretty terrible but is it racist or sexist? We don't have clear evidence of this, although what Williamson has mentioned resonates with me to a degree.

Is he a jackass? Yes, and if it helps the minority owners take control, all the more power to them. But I thought that the article did a bait-n-switch, accusing him of racism and sexism then providing mainly evidence that he was a jackass, something we all knew. But that isn't legal grounds for removing an owner.

Do I like Sarver? No. Do I think these allegations are true? Who knows? Do I think depantsing is ok? No. But do I think it is sexual harassment? Not the way it was described.

So, let's think calmly about this and ask ourselves what we are really saying, because fine lines seem to matter here. But regardless what else comes out of it, I am turned off and this really dampens my enthusiasm for the team. Which is what Rich Paul and Earl Watson really wanted.

I would have asked Watson to choose between a job at the Suns and Rich Paul as well. That man is manipulative and toxic. Just another type of it.

Did you read the article? You act like it’s all just Watson. 70 people complained. 70! I have no doubt. None. That there is a toxic environment in the organization. One woman contemplated suicide. This clown needs to go. He is ruining our Suns.

I didn't expect to be in the position of defending Sarver but whomever wrote the article had zero intention of being impartial and if I recall correctly from the article of the supposed 70 people who were interviewed it is unclear what many actually said.

Something can both point out really bad things and be a total hatchet job.

[virtual9mm]

TBH this isn't enjoyable at all and this lifelong Suns fan is thinking about not giving a shit about the team while all of this nastiness is sorted out.

[Drewsprocket]

Bye felicia.

[Indy]

And it wasn't just watson that said he was using the n word.

[Shabazz]

Who was it here who had that shirtless Sarver as their avatar for a long time? My eyes are still recovering from it.

‘Bazz. I had to beg him to take it down.

This is a hatchet job!

[Split T]

One thing I’ll add is I think it’s very common for racist/misogynistic people to hide those traits. It would not surprise me at all, and in fact I would expect someone to keep those traits hidden around someone they respect and consider an equal. I think Sarver has a lot of respect for guys like James Jones and Monty Williams. Clearly he didn’t respect Earl Watson. This is to say, I don’t think it’s unusual that different people have different experiences with him.

There’s also a lot of stuff in there that Sarver admitted to doing and just that it was a joke that people misconstrued. He admitted to the ones where lots of people were around and denied the ones that were just 1 on 1 situations. I’m generalizing here, but it seemed to feel that way reading the story.

I saw on Twitter a post talking about how many people are downplaying it because it didn’t live up to the expectations created by the initial leak. I think that’s a good point. It wasn’t some crazy bombshell, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still very concerning behavior.

I also saw someone compare Robert Sarver to Michael Scott, which actually does kinda fit. The problem is The Office isn’t real, sure it’s funny, but if Michael Scott existed in real life he’d have been fired for his actions in practically every episode of the show. Sarver gets away with behavior because no one can fire him.

Anyways I think I’m done. It’s not my job to make judgements here, but I hope the nba gets to the bottom of it and that Sarver and anyone contributing to this kind of behavior get what they deserve. I also hope that the innocent employees who get caught in the cross hairs can soon be free of the distraction and have a healthy and safe workplace environment.

[pickle]

I agree with pretty much every word of this post split.