The allegations against Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver keep coming and they won’t stop. A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that the NBA was getting ready for a massive report on Sarver’s practices during his 17-year tenure as the Suns’ owner.
The 60-year-old has been accused of racism and misogyny by current and former employees who revealed disturbing comments made by Sarver and other executives within the franchise.
A report by ESPN’s Baxter Holmes starts as controversial as possible. After a loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2016, the owner allegedly walked into the coaches locker room and used the n-word repeatedly to address Draymond Green’s attitude on the court.
After the loss, Suns majority owner Robert Sarver entered the coaches locker room, Watson told ESPN.
“You know, why does Draymond Green get to run up the court and say [N-word],” Sarver, who is white, allegedly said, repeating the N-word several times in a row.
“You can’t say that,” Watson, who is Black and Hispanic, told Sarver.
“Why?” Sarver replied. “Draymond Green says [N-word].”
“You can’t f—ing say that,” Watson said again.
Sarver claimed he once used the word only to tell somebody not to use it, which didn’t sit well with people observing the exchange.
“On one occasion a player used the n-word to describe the importance of having each others’ back,” he continued. “I responded by saying, I wouldn’t say n***a, I would say that we’re in the foxhole together.’” After that instance, he said an assistant coach approached him and told him not to say the word. “I immediately apologized and haven’t said it ever again.”
He never had the best relationship with Watson and called him ‘toxic’ before releasing him due to differences with Rich Paul, founder of Klutch Sports, which represented Watson at the time.
Sarver explicitly denied Watson’s account of the October 2016 incident. “This is absolutely untrue,” he said. “During this conversation, I said ‘N-word’ without saying the full word. The word itself never crossed my lips. … I never once suggested on that night (or ever) that I should be able to say the N-word because a player or a Black person uses it.”
Contract talks eventually led Bledsoe’s Klutch Sports agent, Rich Paul, to communicate directly with Sarver — the Suns owner didn’t want to extend Bledsoe’s contract in part due to concerns about Bledsoe’s durability, plus concerns that the team had performed poorly with him as the starting point guard, according to sources at the time. Paul responded to Sarver’s remarks by saying that he knew basketball and that they “weren’t talking about tennis,” Sarver’s childhood sport.
Sarver erupted at the dig, according to two people with knowledge of the interaction, telling Paul he was going to fire Watson as the team’s head coach if Watson didn’t sever ties with Klutch, which had been representing Watson, within 10 days – just after the start of the season.
Watson said that Sarver’s ultimatum quickly reached him. He asked Sarver if he was serious.
“Yeah, I will f—ing fire you,” Sarver told Watson. “You have 10 days to think about it. Don’t wait too long.”
Watson said he explained to Sarver the optics of a white owner asking a Black coach to fire an agency led by a Black agent, Paul.
“Yeah, I understand what race you two are,” Sarver replied, according to Watson. “So I’m asking you, How bad do you want your job?”
Watson said he told Sarver that he wasn’t going to fire Klutch.
“You can do whatever you want,” Watson said he told Sarver. “You own this team, but my culture is not for sale. And I’m not for sale.”
Besides these claims, other people called him misogynistic for his jokes about using ‘extra-large’ and magnum condoms. Sarver created a toxic environment in Phoenix, and several females felt miserable while working for the organization.
More than a dozen employees recalled Sarver making lewd comments in all-staff meetings, including discussing times when his wife would perform oral sex on him. Four former employees said that in several all-staff meetings Sarver claimed he needed to wear Magnum or extra-large condoms. Former employees said he asked players about their sex lives and the sexual prowess of their significant others.
“Women have very little value,” one female former staffer said she felt. “Women are possessions. And I think we’re nowhere close to where he thinks men are.”
Through his legal team, Sarver denied talking about his sex life with employees and said he had “absolutely not” talked about condoms.
Before the 2008-09 season, a pregnant Suns employee who was helping coordinate the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, was told by Sarver that she wouldn’t be able to continue in that role, two employees with knowledge of his remarks said. The two employees said Sarver explained that the woman would be breastfeeding and would need to be home with her newborn.
Not only former employees but minority owners believe the Suns are a mess because of Sarver. They know the league could find a lot of dirty clothes if they really go in deep and investigate what’s going on in Phoenix.
“If the commissioner comes in and investigates to see what the f— is going on in Phoenix,” one current business operations employee told ESPN, “[he] would be appalled.”
These are serious and disturbing allegations. We already saw the league taking care of these matters when they went against Donald Sterling and forced him to sell the Los Angeles Clippers.
If these claims are proven true, the association will probably have the same treatment for Sarver. Those behaviors are unacceptable and seeing how some people felt after they left that environment, it’s clear they were unhappy to be part of the Suns organization.
While the team has great times right now, winning games, reaching the NBA Finals, the backstage is really messed up, contrasting with the stuff we see on the court.
