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Suns owner Robert Sarver is accused in a bombshell report of using the N-word numerous times

Nov 5, 2021, 15:02 IST
Insider
Robert Sarver. Christian Petersen/Getty Images
  • Current and former Phoenix Suns employees say the team owner Robert Sarver has used the N-word.
  • Former Suns coach Earl Watson told ESPN that Sarver wondered aloud why players could say the word.
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Several former and current employees of the Phoenix Suns have accused the team owner Robert Sarver of using the N-word.

According to an ESPN report by Baxter Holmes, more than 70 former and current Suns employees allege that Sarver has fostered a toxic work environment plagued by racism and misogyny since he bought the team in 2004.

Former Suns head coach Earl Watson told ESPN that in one instance in 2016, after a loss to the Golden State Warriors, Sarver went into the coaches' locker room and asked why Draymond Green could say the N-word.

"Why does Draymond Green get to run up the court and say" the word, Watson quoted Sarver as asking while using the word.

Watson told ESPN he asked Sarver not to use the racial slur but Sarver again asked why.

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A former Suns executive also told ESPN that in 2013, Sarver vouched for hiring Lindsey Hunter, who is Black, as a head coach, by saying, "These [N-words] need a [N-word]."

Sarver denied that latter allegation and recounted his comment about Green differently. His legal team told ESPN that Sarver had told a Suns player to appeal a technical foul that he'd received for saying the N-word. According to Sarver's representatives, Sarver said that if Green could say it, the Suns player should be able to as well. Sarver denied saying the actual word.

But the player told ESPN he didn't remember speaking with Sarver, and Watson denied any players were present for the exchange.

Other former Suns employees also told ESPN that Sarver would retell stories he heard from Black players, word for word, including the use of the N-word - even though employees told Sarver not to do that.

The NBA announced Thursday that it had hired a law firm to investigate the Suns over the allegations in ESPN's report.

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Sarver began to issue statements denying the allegations weeks before ESPN's story was published. He doubled down on that sentiment in response to an inquiry from Insider.

"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," Sarver's statement said. "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."

Suns CEO Jason Rowley, meanwhile, told Insider in a statement that Holmes created a false narrative.

"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," Rowley said. "He twisted statements and circumstances to fit his preconceived narrative."

Both Sarver and Rowley said they welcomed the NBA's investigation, and Sarver added that the N-word was "abhorrent and ugly and denigrating and against everything I believe in."

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A worrisome record on race

ESPN's report describes other allegations from Suns employees about instances in which Sarver was said to have made questionable comments and decisions regarding race. Watson, who is Black and Hispanic, told ESPN that he once told Sarver the Suns organization should have more diversity. According to Watson, Sarver replied that he didn't like diversity because it made it harder for people to agree.

In a statement to ESPN, Sarver's legal team highlighted the Suns' record of hiring employees of color, including head coach Monty Williams and GM James Jones.

But Watson also said Sarver once threatened to fire him if Watson didn't fire Klutch Sports as his agency. The threat was said to have come after Sarver had a heated argument with Klutch Sports' owner, Rich Paul, about a player's extension. Watson said he brought up the optics of a white owner telling a Black coach to fire an agency run by a Black agent. He alleges that Sarver replied: "I understand what race you two are. So I'm asking you, how bad do you want your job?"

Watson was fired in October 2017.

In his statement, Sarver said that Watson created an "unprofessional and toxic atmosphere in our organization" and that Watson "is clearly not a credible source."

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Inappropriate and misogynistic comments about sex

Robert Sarver. Harry How/Getty Images

Suns employees also told ESPN that Sarver had made inappropriate comments about sex. He once boasted about his wife performing oral sex on him, they said, and is alleged to have said during all-staff meetings that he wears extra-large condoms. Sarver denies those allegations.

ESPN further reported that Sarver would sometimes ask players about their sex lives and the sexual prowess of their partners. Sarver denies this as well.

The problem was said to have extended to the team's overall culture, according to ESPN. The employees allege that Sarver used demeaning language, including referring to staff as "inventory" and asking female employees whether he owned them.

Furthermore, female employees told ESPN that during some meetings, male employees would discuss women who'd worn low-cut tops at prior events. One female sales employee said a former Suns vice president once asked her how many coworkers she'd slept with.

Yet another female employee said a male coworker physically assaulted her and when the issue was brought to human resources her desk was moved just one row over.

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Several female employees told ESPN that they were afraid to report issues to HR for fear of retaliation and that HR staff members occasionally told people who came to them to discuss misconduct that it would better to talk on a walk outside so as not to be seen by bosses.

While some employees pursued legal action against the team, many did not. One female employee told ESPN she had contemplated suicide.

"If I knew - and I wish I knew what I was coming into - I would have never taken the job here. Never," a current Suns employee told ESPN.

In Rowley's statement, he noted that the NBA had not received any complaints about the Suns through the anonymous tip line created in 2018.

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