Robert Sarver Report

[JeremyG]

Maybe this is actually what Bridges meant when he said he tries to not think about Robert Sarver when he walks into the facilities, lol.

[carey]

I guess I'm in the minority hoping it's not true. A report like that will be bad for the whole organization. Not just Sarver. Very little chance we make a deep run with this hanging over our heads the entire season.

Plus, I feel like the devil you know is often better than the devil you don't. There's always a chance things could get worse. Not sure I want to risk it when we were 2 games away from a Championship.

[JeremyG]

I don't believe it will be hanging over us all season. I think the league will act quickly.

[Superbone]

Jordan Schlansky or whatever his name is said that Earl Watson and Ryan McDonough are two of the key witnesses. Also something about Sarver putting an ultimatum on Watson to fire Rich Paul over the weekend or he'd fire Watson on Monday. Something about part of it was something to do with Paul being black.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Something about part of it was something to do with Paul being black.

Now that's something I wouldn't believe. There are plenty of reasons for Sarver to not like Rich Paul and his skin color is most certainly not one of them.

The Suns have a black GM and a black head coach. Not saying having black employees means someone can't be racist, but AFAIK, we haven't heard any rumors about that stuff from Sarver. It's been sexism and just general asshole behavior.

[JeremyG]

Donald Sterling had a black girlfriend. Didn’t help his racism any.

[Pips]

Jordan Schlansky or whatever his name is said that Earl Watson and Ryan McDonough are two of the key witnesses.

If that 2 clowns are key witnesses, then there is no case at all.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Donald Sterling had a black girlfriend. Didn’t help his racism any.

Right, but people were talking about Sterling being racist long before the audio recording was released. It was just hard evidence.

Maybe Sarver has been racist in the past, but I've never heard anything of it, so it would take me more than the rumored stuff with Watson/Rich Paul to convince me. I'd need several testimonials or some real, undeniable proof.

[JJ Slim]

Let me just say I hate Sarver. I wish he had never purchased the Suns and can't wait until he no longer is associated with them in any way. But I hope this isn't true and will wait to see what, if any, facts there are. As much as I want him gone, he deserves the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

[Mori Chu]

I hate Sarver with the fire of a thousand suns. But I don't want this story to be true. For one, I don't want it hanging over our season or distracting our team from winning a title. And secondly, if Sarver is pressured or forced to sell the team, I don't want some rich weirdo from Vegas or Kansas City or St Louis or Seattle to buy the Suns and suddenly they're talking about moving them out of Phoenix.

[Superbone]

Something about part of it was something to do with Paul being black.

Now that's something I wouldn't believe. There are plenty of reasons for Sarver to not like Rich Paul and his skin color is most certainly not one of them.

The Suns have a black GM and a black head coach. Not saying having black employees means someone can't be racist, but AFAIK, we haven't heard any rumors about that stuff from Sarver. It's been sexism and just general asshole behavior.

Don't shoot the messenger but I'm just telling you what he said. Went back and listened again. Here's more detail from the conversation with Gambo:

Sarver told Earl (a young coach who he felt like he could bully), "If you don’t fire Paul in the next 10 days, I’m going to fire you.” Jordan paraphrased it like this, "If you don’t fire your black agent, then I’m going to have to fire you." Watson felt like “Sarver didn’t want to feel like he was being strong-armed by people of color.”

So yeah, it's a lot of he said, he said plus some perceptions which may or may not be true. Plus, to Pip's point, coming from a couple of disgruntled employees (so far). So, this is going to be messy and sully Sarver's reputation even more than it already is even if the perceptions aren't true.

Either way, forcing somebody to fire their agent from a position of power is not a good look. I just hope the Suns organization as a whole isn't sullied in the process.

[Superbone]

And I do like that our locker room has stayed strong outside of this mess and hopefully keeps itself insulated from it.

[carey]

Bob Young on Solar Panel today said that while he was covering the team he heard of 1 instance where Sarver was accused of using a racial epithet & one instance of sexual harassment. He was never able to confirm them himself but was aware that these were reported to the organization.

[JeremyG]

Something about part of it was something to do with Paul being black.

Now that's something I wouldn't believe. There are plenty of reasons for Sarver to not like Rich Paul and his skin color is most certainly not one of them.

The Suns have a black GM and a black head coach. Not saying having black employees means someone can't be racist, but AFAIK, we haven't heard any rumors about that stuff from Sarver. It's been sexism and just general asshole behavior.

Don't shoot the messenger but I'm just telling you what he said. Went back and listened again. Here's more detail from the conversation with Gambo:

Sarver told Earl (a young coach who he felt like he could bully), "If you don’t fire Paul in the next 10 days, I’m going to fire you.” Jordan paraphrased it like this, "If you don’t fire your black agent, then I’m going to have to fire you." Watson felt like “Sarver didn’t want to feel like he was being strong-armed by people of color.”

So yeah, it's a lot of he said, he said plus some perceptions which may or may not be true. Plus, to Pip's point, coming from a couple of disgruntled employees (so far). So, this is going to be messy and sully Sarver's reputation even more than it already is even if the perceptions aren't true.

Either way, forcing somebody to fire their agent from a position of power is not a good look. I just hope the Suns organization as a whole isn't sullied in the process.

I don't think of the Clippers as a sullied organization. But if an investigation finds that there were coverups, or other people involved, or people enabling him, then yeah I suppose it could get ugly.

[JeremyG]

I hate Sarver with the fire of a thousand suns. But I don't want this story to be true. For one, I don't want it hanging over our season or distracting our team from winning a title. And secondly, if Sarver is pressured or forced to sell the team, I don't want some rich weirdo from Vegas or Kansas City or St Louis or Seattle to buy the Suns and suddenly they're talking about moving them out of Phoenix.

I think the league respects Jerry Colangelo and understands what this franchise means to the state of Arizona, and its history and legacy. I don't think they'll allow someone to buy it who wants to move the team.

[JeremyG]

Jordan Schlansky or whatever his name is said that Earl Watson and Ryan McDonough are two of the key witnesses.

If that 2 clowns are key witnesses, then there is no case at all.

Jordan Schultz said there will be somewhere between 50-100 people in the report who speak against Sarver's character. Earl and Ryan were just two that he was allowed to name right now.

[The Bobster]

I hate Sarver with the fire of a thousand suns. But I don't want this story to be true. For one, I don't want it hanging over our season or distracting our team from winning a title. And secondly, if Sarver is pressured or forced to sell the team, I don't want some rich weirdo from Vegas or Kansas City or St Louis or Seattle to buy the Suns and suddenly they're talking about moving them out of Phoenix.

I think the league respects Jerry Colangelo and understands what this franchise means to the state of Arizona, and its history and legacy. I don't think they'll allow someone to buy it who wants to move the team.

"The city and the Suns will both contribute to a new Renewal & Replacement account for infrastructure needs. The city will pay $2M annually and the Suns $1M annually. The Suns commit to staying in the Arena until 2037. Renovations will take place 2019–2021."

[AmareIsGod]

https://www.azfamily.com/sports/phoenix ... 0c08c.html

Schultz says the story is expected to be a bombshell and it will shake up the NBA world. "What I was told, is that as big a story you think it is, it's that much bigger. It's a monster," said Schultz. "It's gonna blow the NBA world up."

[AmareIsGod]

Either much ado about nothing or it's really, really bad shit that is coming.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I hate Sarver with the fire of a thousand suns. But I don't want this story to be true. For one, I don't want it hanging over our season or distracting our team from winning a title. And secondly, if Sarver is pressured or forced to sell the team, I don't want some rich weirdo from Vegas or Kansas City or St Louis or Seattle to buy the Suns and suddenly they're talking about moving them out of Phoenix.

I think the league respects Jerry Colangelo and understands what this franchise means to the state of Arizona, and its history and legacy. I don't think they'll allow someone to buy it who wants to move the team.

As long as the NBA is keeping a team in New Orleans, they're not moving another out of their original home city.