It took nearly a year, but the NBA has finally completed its investigation into Robert Sarver and the Phoenix Suns.
In an ESPN report last fall, Sarver, the team’s owner, was accused of certain acts of racism and misperception as well as bullying and lead a toxic office culture. Two weeks before the story was published, the Phoenix Suns released a statement refuse any serious problems in their workplace.
The NBA’s results led to the league announcing a $10 million fine, which was dispersed among organizations dealing with race and gender issues, as well as a suspension for Sarver.
Sarver has been suspended from both the Suns and his other franchise, Phoenix Mercury. He is banned from all properties associated with both the NBA and the WNBA, and is not allowed to contact his franchises or represent them in any way.
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The coalition investigation confirmed Sarver said the N word on various occasions, concluding that he repeated what he said he had heard other Negroes say. This includes an incident in 2016 in which he was upset when a Golden State Warriors player was not technically fouled for using the N word. He stormed into a face coach’s office. the sky was black and was said to have shouted the word repeatedly. The coach told Sarver, “You can’t say that.” Sarver replied, “I cannot say, [N-word, N-word, N-word]? ”
Deeper in the report, the investigation revealed one thing that Sarver wasn’t a fan of at all – diversity. He asked a Black coach what needed to change most about the organization. The coach responded by saying, “diversity,” and Sarver immediately dismissed the idea. His exact statement according to the survey was, “No, no, no, I hate diversity.” One eyewitness to the incident told Sarver, “You don’t really hate diversity.” Sarver’s answer? “No I Do.” When interviewed by NBA investigators, Sarver insisted he meant he was against the diversity of basketball philosophies and principles on the coaching staff. He wants all coaches to believe the same in that regard.
The investigation also found that Sarver made misleading and inappropriate comments about sex in the workplace. An example is when he wants to unassign a pregnant employee from an event because it will happen shortly after she gives birth. His reasoning was that she would “breastfeed” and “infant needs mom, not dad.” Sarver eventually brought her back to the event. He also once organized a lunch between 4 female Suns employees and some female employees of the bank he used to be CEO, Western Alliance. The goal of the day was to familiarize the women who work for the Suns with his management style, after one of the meeting attendees reportedly cried after being scolded by Sarver.
This 43-page report may not confirm every detail of the ESPN investigation, but it does confirm the serious problems with Sarver and the organization as a whole. It is reasonable to conclude that the workplace Sarver runs is unprofessional, malicious, and offensive. Much of it was the result of his own words and actions.
Perhaps this provides some clues as to why the Suns were so bad at the end of their 2022 playoffs. Last season, the Suns reached the knockout stages for the first time since their star players Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash, while also accomplishing a feat no other team had ever done – reaching the Finals. NBA. And not only did they make it to the finals, but the Suns were in a few games as they won the franchise’s first NBA championship.
Last season started off on a sour note, as former No. 1 player overall Deandre Ayton, a key post-season contributor, failed to receive a contract extension. Then, ESPN’s Sarver story dropped three weeks into the campaign.
The Suns will go on to end the regular season with not only the best record in the NBA but also the best in franchise history. Then, in the final two games of their semi-final series against the Dallas Mavericks, the season went on shamelessly. Phoenix lost game 6 with 27 points and game 7 – at home – with a score of 33. The final game was so bad that Ayton played less than 20 minutes. When the coach Monty Williams was asked about it then he replied, “It’s internal.” In the weeks following the loss, The Athletic reported that the Sun has a Covid outbreak throughout the series. Six people in the organization, including an assistant coach and a player, have tested positive, and several other members of the Suns reported feeling ill before Saturday’s game.
Remember Greta Rogers? She was the woman in the Phoenix city council meeting who went viral because speak out against public funding for the renovation of the Suns’ arena in 2018. The Phoenix New Times talked to her right after that, and she said that Sarver was a “disgusting man.” She implied that she received information from two people who knew him and she also said, “As long as he runs this team [sic] the way he runs it, it will be a failure. “
Rogers showed the world what many NBA fans already know, that Sarver was tight on money and hard to get along with. As the Ayton contract negotiations show, all is still true. The NBA investigation revealed in great detail Rogers’ view that Sarver had done a terrible job running one of their organizations.
In his more than 18 years as the owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, Sarver has shown a lack of respect for his employees, disregarding decency and even prejudice. It took the NBA a long time to complete this investigation, and whether they were able to issue an appropriate punishment. left to debate. But what is undisputed is what happened in Phoenix. Robert Sarver was once a terrible member of the league leadership.
