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

[Flagrant Fowl]

I've never cared about Sarver's politics, just the way he treats people. I'll think of the next person in his position, if there is one, the same way.

[SunsRIt]

I've never cared about Sarver's politics, just the way he treats people. I'll think of the next person in his position, if there is one, the same way.

I don’t know anything about Sarver’s politics. This guy in basically his first public appearance trots it out there to make a statement.

[Split T]

I've never cared about Sarver's politics, just the way he treats people. I'll think of the next person in his position, if there is one, the same way.

I don’t know anything about Sarver’s politics. This guy in basically his first public appearance trots it out there to make a statement.

If the statement is that he’s not racist like Sarver, then he can trot it out there all he wants.

[AmareIsGod]

Najafi making his play!

Great. We’re going to go from Sarver to a Kaepernick business partner and buddy.

I've never taken issue with Kaepernick and taking a stand the way he has. I've also never taken offense by athletes that don't stand for the national anthem. But I know there are also a ton of people that hate Kaepernick and when athletes don't stand.

[Indy]

I've never cared about Sarver's politics, just the way he treats people. I'll think of the next person in his position, if there is one, the same way.

I don’t know anything about Sarver’s politics. This guy in basically his first public appearance trots it out there to make a statement.

If the statement is that he’s not racist like Sarver, then he can trot it out there all he wants.

Exactly.

[Split T]

Taken down because it was just Jalen just making it up? Or was it in an original version of the story and was removed for some reason and Jalen didn’t realize that?

[Flagrant Fowl]

My bet is still on Jalen Rose making it up.

[Split T]

Ya I can see where he was just creating a hypothetical scenario to make his point.

[Flagrant Fowl]

In which case he should be reprimanded for it and ESPN should issue a retraction. It's extremely irresponsible for someone in his position to make a false claim like that.

[Mori Chu]

That Najafi seems like a decent fellow, and I'm glad he is part of the Suns ownership group. But my problem with his criticisms of Sarver is that he has a huge conflict of interest. He seems like he'd love to buy out Sarver's share of the team, increase the value of his own investment, and perhaps have more control and influence over the operation of the team. I'm not saying that is a bad thing; he is allowed to be ambitious and want to purchase more of the team. But I do think that tends to affect how he would react to this Sarver scandal.

[Split T]

In which case he should be reprimanded for it and ESPN should issue a retraction. It's extremely irresponsible for someone in his position to make a false claim like that.

Agreed, but the fact that they’ve just quietly removed the video and ignored it is what makes me think there’s a chance it’s a real story.

[ShelC]

Whether true or not, I'm still shocked it hasn't really caught on anywhere in a major way that would cause ESPN/Rose to clarify the remark.

[Mori Chu]

In which case he should be reprimanded for it and ESPN should issue a retraction. It's extremely irresponsible for someone in his position to make a false claim like that.

Agreed, but the fact that they’ve just quietly removed the video and ignored it is what makes me think there’s a chance it’s a real story.

I don't know whether Rose's story is true or untrue, but why would they remove the video if it were true and important? Doesn't the removal come across as more of a retraction, a stepping away from the statement?

[Indy]

In which case he should be reprimanded for it and ESPN should issue a retraction. It's extremely irresponsible for someone in his position to make a false claim like that.

Agreed, but the fact that they’ve just quietly removed the video and ignored it is what makes me think there’s a chance it’s a real story.

I don't know whether Rose's story is true or untrue, but why would they remove the video if it were true and important? Doesn't the removal come across as more of a retraction, a stepping away from the statement?

If it was part of the original story and was in a draft, but ESPN lawyers couldn't get enough corroboration to stand behind it, I can see them taking it down and not saying anything about it.

[Drewsprocket]

Whether true or not, I'm still shocked it hasn't really caught on anywhere in a major way that would cause ESPN/Rose to clarify the remark.

I took it as implied message to not offering the max to Ayton was treating him that way. I didn’t think of it as something he explicitly said.

[Indy]

Whether true or not, I'm still shocked it hasn't really caught on anywhere in a major way that would cause ESPN/Rose to clarify the remark.

I took it as implied message to not offering the max to Ayton was treating him that way. I didn’t think of it as something he explicitly said.

I think this is the most likely explanation. The first time I heard it, I didn't think of it as reporting. But when all the buzz started, that influenced my opinion.

[Split T]

In which case he should be reprimanded for it and ESPN should issue a retraction. It's extremely irresponsible for someone in his position to make a false claim like that.

Agreed, but the fact that they’ve just quietly removed the video and ignored it is what makes me think there’s a chance it’s a real story.

I don't know whether Rose's story is true or untrue, but why would they remove the video if it were true and important? Doesn't the removal come across as more of a retraction, a stepping away from the statement?

If it was part of the original story and was in a draft, but ESPN lawyers couldn't get enough corroboration to stand behind it, I can see them taking it down and not saying anything about it.

Ya this is what I was thinking…It is possible Jalen was just implying something like Drewspocket said…but it’s just a very detailed accusation and is told in the same breath as another incident that did happen and was in the article. Seems weird that Jalen would just make that accusation if it wasn’t something he had heard.

[JeremyG]

Yeah, that's what I meant by bringing up the word "lazy" before--that it adds more detail to it. I've never heard Ayton characterized as "lazy" by Rose before, so it just seems weird that just because he was deemed unworthy of the max by Sarver, Rose would assume it was because he considered him "lazy." It seems "lazy n-word" is actually something he heard from someone.

Or another possibility: the rumor Rose heard was that Sarver called Ayton "lazy," and Rose added "n-word" to it.

[JeremyG]

Something else to ponder. Diana Taurasi has been here 17 years, as long as Sarver himself. And we've heard nothing from her at all. Interesting. I guess at the very least, she hasn't wanted to vouch for him being a classy respecter of women.

[JeremyG]

Here is the incident I referred to before that Jordan Schultz said would be in the report:

"Because what happens with, when they have their owner meetings, and they have everyone in the room, or in this case, on zoom, and the owners are very specific to, and very in tune with what the image is of the league, and how other owners and how they are being perceived. [...] There's certain owners that other guys simply do not respond to, and there are even female owners as we've seen. [...] I can tell you that there is, one of the reports that's gonna drop, one of the parts of this report with Sarver, is a very damning statement made against another female owner."

https://omny.fm/shows/burns-gambo/jorda ... er-analyst

It sounds like it happened in a Zoom meeting? Maybe he didn't know his mic was on? I guess it was deleted from the story for some reason.