Phoenix Suns/Mercury owner Robert Sarver will sell the teams, he announced in a statement on Wednesday.
The 60-year-old has decided it’s in the best interest to sell the Suns and Mercury(WNBA) after the league suspended him for one year and fined him $10 million following the findings of an independent investigation of Sarver, which concluded he used the N-word on five occasions during his tenure with the Suns/Mercury organization, engaged in instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees, made many sex-related comments in the workplace, made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of female employees and other women, and on several occasions engaged in inappropriate physical conduct toward male employees.
In addition, the report stated that Sarver engaged in demeaning and harsh treatment of employees, including yelling and cursing at them.
In his statement, Sarver felt today’s society would not allow him to make amends for his past actions.
“As a man of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness,” Sarver said in his statement. “I expected that the commissioner’s one-year suspension would provide the time for me to focus, make amends and remove my personal controversy from the teams that I and so many fans love.
“But in our current unforgiving climate, it has become painfully clear that that is no longer possible — that whatever good I have done, or could still do, is outweighed by things I have said in the past. For those reasons, I am beginning the process of seeking buyers for the Suns and Mercury.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes it is best for Sarver to sell the team and said the following in a statement discussing Sarver’s decision.
“I fully support the decision by Robert Sarver to sell the Phoenix Suns and Mercury,” Silver said. “This is the right next step for the organization and community.”
The entity that owns the Suns, Suns Legacy Partners, LLC, also agrees with Sarver’s choice to sell the team.
“We agree that Robert Sarver’s decision to sell the Suns and Mercury is in the best interest of the organization and community,” the statement read.
“We also know that today’s news does not change the work that remains in front of us to create, maintain and protect a best-in-class experience for our staff, players, fans, partners, and community.
“As we’ve shared with our employees, we acknowledge the courage of the people who came forward in this process to tell their stories and apologize to those hurt.
“We are on a journey that began before last November, one that has included changes to leadership, staff, and accountability measures. While we are proud of our progress and the culture of respect and integrity we are building, we know there remains work to do and relationships to rebuild. We are committed to doing so for our staff, players, fans, partners, and this community.”
Before the Phoenix’s 123-111 win over the Rockets on Thursday night at Footprint Center, a story was released by ESPN that accused Suns owner Robert Sarver of racism and misogynism, which was denied by some members of the Suns organization and Sarver.
After the win, Chris Paul, who had nine points and 13 assists, gave his thoughts on the allegations against Sarver.
“I think for us it’s about controlling what we can control, and that’s hooping, that’s basketball,” Paul said. “That’s what we did today, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
Paul knows firsthand what it’s like to deal with distractions from ownership as he was with the Clippers when Donald Sterling was forced to sell the team after a video surfaced of him making racial remarks, and Paul knows what it takes to work through it.
“It’s important, it’s important to stay focused, stay locked in,” Paul said. “I went through a few situations in my time in the league and the powers that be, they look into it and do their investigations and what not, but I think the biggest thing I’ve learned in all these years is that us, as a team, we got to talk. It’s not about what everyone else is saying or what everyone else is telling you to do, or what you should do. It’s about how we feel as a team, as a unit, coaching staff, everybody within the organization.”
Devin Booker, who nearly recorded his first double-double of the season on Thursday night, finishing with a game-high 27 points and season-high nine rebounds against Houston, is happy that the Suns have Monty Williams to help them navigate through this situation.
“Perfect person, man. I heard his quotes pregame; he’s the best at that, at managing situations, controlling the room, and keeping people focused forward,” Booker said. “That’s what he’s done with our team. We’ve talked about it as a team, and you can feel everything he said. We’re sticking by him, and we’re going to keep playing hard for him and winning basketball games.”
There could be difficult times ahead for the Suns, but they have a great core group to work through this situation.
On Thursday, ESPN released a story that accused Suns owner Robert Sarver of racism and misogyny. Sarver, who purchased the Suns in 2004, has denied many of the allegations levied against him.
Here is a statement below released by Suns president and CEO, Jason Rowley, criticizing the writer of the story Baxter Holmes and defending the Suns organization.
“The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury organization vehemently reject the claims made in today’s ESPN article. Our two organizations have always worked hard to create an environment that is respectful and diverse; where racism, sexism and damaging behavior of any kind are not condoned.
“Today’s story contains false information and narratives perpetuated by a reporter who has struggled unsuccessfully to match the facts to a story he decided he wanted to tell a year ago. He twisted statements and circumstances to fit his preconceived narrative. He broke every rule of journalism by first deciding on his findings and then cherry-picking events and unreliable sources to prop up his demonstrably false claims.
“Former and current Suns employees and members of their families have shared their concerns with some of Mr. Holmes’s tactics. We were disappointed to see that instead of relying on legitimate sources of information, Mr. Holmes relied on the say-so of a disgruntled former coach to make completely false claims and to damage our hard-earned reputation. Numerous eyewitnesses – including former Suns president Lon Babby, John Shumate, and Alvin Gentry – told Mr. Holmes, in no uncertain terms, that they never witnessed the conduct he described.
“We retained defamation counsel after it became clear that Mr. Holmes’s reporting was plagued by journalistic failures.
“We have been put in the position of trying to disprove things that didn’t happen. From a personal perspective, the Robert Sarver I’ve worked alongside of for 15 years is not a racist and he’s not a sexist. He’s a hard-driving, competitive and compassionate man, and I’m proud to work with him. During Mr. Sarver’s tenure, the Suns/Mercury have been a leader among sports teams in the hiring of minority, LGBTQ, and female executives. The language attributed to him – many times by anonymous sources – is a complete fiction.
“We take seriously any accusations of racism, sexism, or harassment of any kind – they have no place in our organization and are not tolerated. The Suns and Mercury are committed to providing a respectful, fun and gratifying office environment. Through the years, we have followed all evolving best practices to ensure our employees have healthy work/life balance.
“It’s important to us and to me that every employee feels they play a central role in building something special. In the workplace, we’ve always tried to foster a diverse and inclusive workforce that prides itself on treating and paying our employees fairly and providing for their upward mobility. Just a few examples of the policies and training we offer employees include our Respect in the Workplace Policy and associated training, sexual harassment training, diversity and inclusion training, and a robust learning management system aimed at advancing professional development. We have a track record of hiring and promoting women, racial minorities, and LGBTQ candidates in roles that have been predominately held by men.
“Our organization and the NBA also conduct workplace engagement and satisfaction surveys on a routine basis. Our most recent NBA–sponsored workplace satisfaction survey of our full-time employees conducted in 2020 reflected a 90% satisfaction rating. We have a track record of identifying areas of improvement from our surveys and taking action to create an even better workplace. We are also very clear in our communications to employees regarding the fact that these surveys and responses are anonymous and that in no case will employees suffer negative consequences from providing feedback on the surveys.
“It is also important to note that the NBA put in place an anonymous employee tip line in 2018 to report workplace issues at the team level. To date, the NBA has never received any complaints in these areas regarding our organization.
“Given ESPN’s and Mr. Holmes’s failure to report the facts, we welcome any investigation by the League to review and respond to these false accusations.”
Sarver also released a statement, where he, too, criticized Holmes and former Suns head coach and Raptors assistant Earl Watson, who accused Sarver of using the N-word.
In addition, Sarver says he welcomes a league investigation.
“I continue to be shocked by the false reporting from Baxter Holmes. While there is so much that is inaccurate and misleading in this story that I hardly know where to begin, let me be clear: The n-word is not part of my vocabulary. I have never called anyone or any group of people the n-word, or referred to anyone or any group of people by that word, either verbally or in writing. I don’t use that word. It is abhorrent and ugly and denigrating and against everything I believe in. The way I lead my personal and professional life makes that clear. Instead of reporting the truth, Holmes’ story is based on misrepresentations from former Suns coach Earl Watson and other unnamed “sources.” Mr. Watson created an unprofessional and toxic atmosphere in our organization. He is clearly not a credible source. Despite hearing from witness after witness that disputed Mr. Watson’s stories, Mr. Holmes completely disregarded the truth here. Now we are in the position of trying to disprove things that did not happen.
“At this point, I would entirely welcome an impartial NBA investigation which may prove our only outlet for clearing my name and the reputation of an organization of which I’m so very proud.”
These are serious allegations against Sarver, and the NBA says they will investigate. It should be interesting to see if Sarver will be forced to sell the team at some point.
