Robert Sarver is in Big Trouble (ANNOUNCES SALE PROCESS)

[Krangodnzr]

No I'm not. And I've said it many times.

Two people you don't trust tell you opposite sides of the same story. Who do you believe? Myself, I don't accept either story as true or as false. I just ignore them and wait for better information.

And I'm not buying into Sarver's version of either incident, I'm just waiting for better information.

What if one of the people you don't believe mirrors the stories of many others?

I think you're letting your dislike of Watson cloud your view of this. Watson is essentially saying what many others are saying so his account has more creedence.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I don't believe either Sarver or Watson.

I've asked myself if I had to bet which one was telling the truth or even if they were both lying and I really don't know. I guess, if push came to shove, I'd put more faith in Watson's account assuming he's willing to state it publicly.

 

[AzStevenCal]

What if one of the people you don't believe mirrors the stories of many others?

I think you're letting your dislike of Watson cloud your view of this. Watson is essentially saying what many others are saying so his account has more creedence.

Not so. I dislike and distrust Sarver far more than I do Watson.

And other than an unsourced, perhaps hypothetical comment from Rose about Ayton being lazy (and others running with the story) I haven't seen the "mirrors the stories" that you're referring to. Can you elaborate or be more specific?

 

[GatorAZ]

I know ESPN loves racebaiting and Rose especially but he’s got to come forward with a little more after giving us that nugget. Whether you believe Watson or not at least he detailed the exact context in which Sarver used slurs. Rose just dropped that comment like it was small talk or something and nobody else on that panel followed up on it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I know ESPN loves racebaiting and Rose especially but he’s got to come forward with a little more after giving us that nugget. Whether you believe Watson or not at least he detailed the exact context in which Sarver used slurs. Rose just dropped that comment like it was small talk or something and nobody else on that panel followed up on it.

Yeah, I think they were stunned. And given that he said it in a way where he could claim he was being hypothetical, they probably wanted no part of it until the story was fleshed out. I'm just surprised that hasn't happened. A little support of that comment and Sarver is finished.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Not so. I dislike and distrust Sarver far more than I do Watson.

And other than an unsourced, perhaps hypothetical comment from Rose about Ayton being lazy (and others running with the story) I haven't seen the "mirrors the stories" that you're referring to. Can you elaborate or be more specific?

Within the article there are multiple mentions of comments made by Sarver. I don't understand why some people are being obtuse about this.

Bickley confirmed Jalen Rose's on air comments.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I've asked myself if I had to bet which one was telling the truth or even if they were both lying and I really don't know. I guess, if push came to shove, I'd put more faith in Watson's account assuming he's willing to state it publicly.

Steve, he did state it publicly, putting his name on the record for the article.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That video of him talking about of his employees secretaries “tiny tits” and one of his other guys screwing their way through the cheerleaders are ugly. That’s making sexual comments about female employees who had nothing to do with the roast.

How are those women supposed to feel about working there?

He’s a cancer. Get his pathetic ass out of this team.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I'm going to use this analogy on questioning Watsons story:

1st guy walks in and tells you its rain outside, and then a 2nd guy comes in and tells you the same thing. When the 3rd guy (a guy you don't trust) comes in and tells you its raining, do you question it?

The patterns of misconduct from Sarver have been around for a very long time. Even the McD goat story adds credence to the veracity of the claims against Sarver.

 

[Mainstreet]

These negative stories about Robert Sarver have been accumulating for years. After awhile it's hard to excuse every one. I suspect he has gained a lot of enemies over the years. If someone wants him out as the Suns owner, it's hard to believe there is not enough to force him out.

Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN Staff Writer, even did an article on the Suns front office back on March 4, 2019.

It even mentions the Vince Carter situation back in 2012.

Inside the Phoenix Suns' messy and dysfunctional front office

More than a decade after the Steve Nash era, Phoenix appears to have no discernible direction.

www.espn.com

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm going to use this analogy on questioning Watsons story:

1st guy walks in and tells you its rain outside, and then a 2nd guy comes in and tells you the same thing. When the 3rd guy (a guy you don't trust) comes in and tells you its raining, do you question it?

The patterns of misconduct from Sarver have been around for a very long time. Even the McD goat story adds credence to the veracity of the claims against Sarver.

It isn't just a case of accept it as gospel or call it a lie, I don't believe or disbelieve his story. I've said that several times. I don't believe or disbelieve Robert's version of the story, I've also said that.

For me, the goat story adds believability to the claims of a toxic workplace, but not, it doesn't say anything about whether Sarver called someone else the N word.

But yeah, the patterns of Sarver's misconduct have been around a long time. Not the racists claims but there's no doubt the man is a lousy human being and a horrible boss.

 

[Krangodnzr]

It isn't just a case of accept it as gospel or call it a lie, I don't believe or disbelieve his story. I've said that several times. I don't believe or disbelieve Robert's version of the story, I've also said that.

For me, the goat story adds believability to the claims of a toxic workplace, but not, it doesn't say anything about whether Sarver called someone else the N word.

But yeah, the patterns of Sarver's misconduct have been around a long time. Not the racists claims but there's no doubt the man is a lousy human being and a horrible boss.

The goat story means that Sarver doesn't respect boundaries, which lends credence to the idea that he wouldn't respect other boundaries.

 

[Ronin]

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[Hoop Head]

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Yeah that roast video isn't the silver bullet here. It was a roast and I'm a little surprised some are trying to make it into more than that.

Again, not defending Sarver, the guy is a POS, but there no is absolutely no way the other owners, in the NBA or of the Suns, use material from a roast to remove Sarver as owner.

 

[Covert Rain]

Anybody that thinks that the ESPN legal team lets this story fly without corroboration is crazy. No way. No way they do this without documented evidence. Now that isn't to say that the article isn't sensationalized but I simply can't see ESPN letting this thing fly if it was simply one or two people making all the accusations with zero corroboration.

Oh...and just because ESPN didn't name all the people that made statements doesn't mean they are anonymous. Simply means they were not all named. I wouldn't expect a list of 70 people to be released either. It would jeopardize any follow-up investigation and make everyone named targets.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah that roast video isn't the silver bullet here. It was a roast and I'm a little surprised some are trying to make it into more than that.

Again, not defending Sarver, the guy is a POS, but there no is absolutely no way the other owners, in the NBA or of the Suns, use material from a roast to remove Sarver as owner.

Talking about some employees secretaries tiny tits is fun and games? Sorry, no. What does a Secretary have to do with this roast? Nothing.

And it doesn’t need to be a silver bullet. It’s just more fuel for a fire that’s already burning based on just the things he’s actually admitted.

 

[Raindog]

These negative stories about Robert Sarver have been accumulating for years. After awhile it's hard to excuse every one. I suspect he has gained a lot of enemies over the years. If someone wants him out as the Suns owner, it's hard to believe there is not enough to force him out.

Yeah, that's a salient point. It's been common knowledge for years that Sarver is much disliked around the league, among both players and officials. I always of course understood why the fan base here in Arizona (including me) disliked him... because he was cheap, meddling owner who put his own ego above the good of the team.

However, that certainly in no way would be the cause of the universal dislike of him around the league. There has always had to be more to what was going on for him to be so universally disreputable. It's quite probable that now we are getting the full picture of why that is.

 

[Finito]

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Higher ups Banging out Suns Cheerleaders huh

Classy

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't think Sarver is racist at least certainly not now. He may have used inappropriate language expressing a point but his behavior as far as I know doesn't support it.

As an example, I believe he pushed for Earl Watkins to get the head coaching job with the Suns. Also hiring James Jones as GM and Monty Williams as head coach doesn't support it either. The Suns have had a number of black coaches. Additionally the Los Suns jerseys have been around for a decade.

If anything brings Sarver down as the Suns owner, I don't think race will be a major contributing factor.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't think Sarver is racist at least certainly not now. He may have used inappropriate language expressing a point but his behavior as far as I know doesn't support it.

As an example, I believe he pushed for Earl Watkins to get the head coaching job with the Suns. Also hiring James Jones as GM and Monty Williams as head coach doesn't support it either. The Suns have had a number of black coaches. Additionally the Los Suns jerseys have been around for a decade.

If anything brings Sarver down as the Suns owner, I don't think race will be a major contributing factor.

Donald Sterling made Elgin Baylor his GM for years snd hired Doc Rivers to be his coach. Yet, he was still known to be a massive racist prior to those moves.

waving racist claims against Sarver because he’s made hires from the Black community is naive, IMO.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

The problem with this take is that it appears at least, that there are dozens more people backing up what they are saying.

If it's one or two people, yeah they could be disgruntled, but 20?

And even Penny Sarver's actions are wholly inappropriate and show that the Sarvers don't really get how you should handle yourself.

Sigh, again we have ZERO idea how many people. We know it’s more than 3 bc a few people have actually have been named. The rest could be the same individuals over and over again or they could all have slung some mud. We only know that the writer spoke with 70+ people. We don’t who, or how many, said what.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Listening to Bill Simmons pod where Jackie McMullen, one of the best NBA reporters ever says not only does she know Baxter Holmes, she knows what kind of reporter he is, totally believes him and there have been talk FOREVER floating around the league about Sarver being a racist/sexist but people were always afraid to go on the record until now.

But other than Watson who else is on the record?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Again, you’re taking Sarver’s “minor blip” at face value when I believe it’s more likely spin that doesn’t tell the whole story. Same way he “just brought in bikini pics to show off a brochure”. His responses to the BS stuff that he vomited out of his mouth wreak of even more BS.

Agreed. I don’t think many here don’t believe sarver is trash, it’s again, what can be proven enough to get him out.

 

[elindholm]

The way it sounds to me is that Sarver feels like he is a part of the team culture, part of the locker room culture, and thus believing he can say the same things that players are saying. The article outlines numerous instances of this.

This is a good way of putting it.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

What if one of the people you don't believe mirrors the stories of many others?

I think you're letting your dislike of Watson cloud your view of this. Watson is essentially saying what many others are saying so his account has more creedence.

Again, who are the “many?” We have no idea if it’s just two more people. You’re buying into the “70 people interviewed” as being “70 people told terrible stories or corroborated terrible stories.” Not the same thing. And journalists use that tactic purposefully. They wrote the story. They could phrase that however they want. Do you think “interviewed” wasn’t purposefully used for some reason? It’s because they don’t have 70 people saying bad stuff but they did talk to 70 people. It’s a device meant to mislead. And it’s worked.

That said, if it’s 20 people it’s tough for sarver to squirm out from under. As that number decreases, absent the smoking gun, sarvers survival chances increase.