Robert Sarver keeps making headlines in recent days. The Phoenix Suns owner and the organization are under investigation after a report saw the light with 70 former and current franchise employees accusing the chairman and other high-level executives of racism and misogyny.
Everybody around the league blasted Sarver thanks to his allegations, and that won’t stop anytime soon. Things don’t look promising after his wife reportedly contacted former Suns’ employees and seemingly threatened them.
Still, that doesn’t stop the backlash for Sarver, and one former Suns player blasted the 60-year-old, saying he wouldn’t have taken anything from him. Charles Barkley, now working for TNT, gave his two pennies on this situation.
The 1993 NBA MVP (with the Suns) talked about the allegation, explaining how he would’ve dealt with inappropriate comments.
“Anybody watching this show. If somebody treats you bad at work, racially, sexist, homophobic. You got to say something that moment. You can’t be saying, ‘no, I need my job.’ Nobody should work in a hostile environment. When you hear the stories, you’re like, ‘who would let somebody talk to them like that in a job situation?’ If I played for the Phoenix Suns and that dude said some of the [alleged] stuff, I’d have punched him in the face right there on the spot. No amount of money in the world, in any job you got, so you be susceptible to a hostile work environment– I don’t care if you’re a maid, I don’t care if you’re somebody’s housekeeper, where you work in your life, if somebody is treating you bad, you are a human being. And you should defend yourself.”
It’s terrible that all these people had to go through these unfair situations. Fortunately, most of them could get out of that bad place and receive the help they needed to get over those bad moments.
As Chuck said, no amount of money in the world is worth it if your life is a nightmare at your workplace. Still, some folks don’t have many options other than staying in those places.
We sincerely hope the NBA sheds light on this situation and make the right decisions to assure these episodes won’t happen anymore. The Phoenix Suns are great on the court; they are one of the best teams in the West, but the things happening behind the scenes are really disturbing.
