{"id":78928,"date":"2022-09-26T20:59:57","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T20:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/phoenix-suns-in-shock-as-robert-sarver-saga-hangs-over-team-entering-season\/"},"modified":"2022-09-26T20:59:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T20:59:57","slug":"phoenix-suns-in-shock-as-robert-sarver-saga-hangs-over-team-entering-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/phoenix-suns-in-shock-as-robert-sarver-saga-hangs-over-team-entering-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Suns in shock as Robert Sarver saga hangs over team entering season"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>PHOENIX &#8212; The Suns are moving on to a new chapter with owner Robert Sarver planning to sell the team, but the mood at media day revealed a team still in shock.<\/p>\n<p>Sarver announced his intentions last week following the results of an NBA investigation.  The details of the report, which confirmed Sarver had a history of racist, sexist and misogynistic acts, seemed to shake the organization.<\/p>\n<p>Down the line, the key voices in the organization arrived at the lectern with grim faces and the complete absence of excitement that a media day typically generates.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was in disbelief,&#8221; coach Monty Williams said.  &#8220;When you see the bullet points and then when you go through it, um, you start to think about how these things impact the people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I would say just a state of shock,&#8221; general manager James Jones said.  &#8220;You don&#8217;t want that around the organization. You don&#8217;t want that to be the issue.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was tough, just like anybody, reading all the different things,&#8221; star guard Chris Paul said.  &#8220;It was more so also the things that people have to endure in the workplace.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s tough for me because that&#8217;s not the Robert Sarver that I know, it&#8217;s not the Robert that welcomed me to Phoenix with open arms,&#8221; \u200b\u200bsaid Devin Booker, the longest-tenured Suns player, who is starting his eighth season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But at the same time, I&#8217;m not insensitive to everybody that&#8217;s involved in the situation. I understand everybody&#8217;s personal experience with other people are always going to be different.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The report&#8217;s confirmation of Sarver&#8217;s repeated use of the N-word, which was brought to light by an ESPN investigation released last year, seemed to strike the strongest chord.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That word, I don&#8217;t like it, never have. Especially when I was younger and I learned what that word meant. I learned how demeaning it was toward humanity, not just black folks,&#8221; Williams said.  &#8220;And when I saw the report, I was not happy about it, quite frankly, disgusted. It&#8217;s not a word you repeat anytime. And when you read the report, you read the bullet points and you see it over and over again in that way, it bothers you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Jones said he had not been in contact with Sarver, which follows the NBA&#8217;s punishment that banned from the team for a year.  Paul said he&#8217;d been in contact regularly with NBA commissioner Adam Silver before and after the ruling was announced.<\/p>\n<p>It was only one of the issues that was pulling at the team&#8217;s mojo from last year&#8217;s 64-win season, which had been reduced to a footnote.<\/p>\n<p>Veteran forward Jae Crowder asked not to come to training camp, and the Suns announced they&#8217;d granted the request Sunday.  Crowder was informed over the summer that he may lose his starting job this season, sources said, and it prompted him to request a trade.  The Suns had discussions about it throughout the summer but hadn&#8217;t found a deal yet.  But it seems clear his time with the team is over.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Jae brought a number of intangibles to the team, I think all of our guys would speak in that way about him,&#8221; Williams said.  &#8220;At the same time these things happen and you have to transition and move forward. I totally am behind James and how we are handling this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There was also the complete lack of enthusiasm emanating from Deandre Ayton, who signed a four-year, $133 million offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers that the Suns quickly matched.  It ended a yearlong period of tense talks between Ayton and the Suns over his future, and there seemed to be some scars.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just let my agents handle it and I trusted my team,&#8221; the usually jovial Ayton said flatly.  &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to take any steps back.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>During the offseason, Jones and Williams both signed extensions to remain with the franchise long term.  As did Booker, who signed a $224 million extension that committed him to the Suns until 2028. The team is also returning the core of the roster than won a league-best 64 games last season, and there is now clarity that Sarver will no longer be a distraction.<\/p>\n<p>But there was no positivity following from those moves.  In the first 90 minutes of interviews, the only time a smile was cracked was when Booker made a joke about being on the cover of the NBA 2K video game.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn&#8217;t even cover the team&#8217;s brief discussions about trading for Kevin Durant, which never progressed, and the team&#8217;s disastrous Game 7 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks last May that started what turned out to be a largely unpleasant offseason.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve all grown and learned and had a chance to see lights and different perspectives for sure,&#8221; Williams said.  &#8220;And it&#8217;s just been one of those summers that, quite frankly, you&#8217;ll never forget.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PHOENIX &#8212; The Suns are moving on to a new chapter with owner Robert Sarver planning to sell the team, but the mood at media day revealed a team still in shock. Sarver announced his intentions last week following the results of an NBA investigation. The details of the report, which confirmed Sarver had a &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/phoenix-suns-in-shock-as-robert-sarver-saga-hangs-over-team-entering-season\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Phoenix Suns in shock as Robert Sarver saga hangs over team entering season<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[8817,7906,25788,68,46,1728],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73900,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/robert-sarver-says-hes-starting-process-to-sell-nbas-phoenix-suns-wnbas-phoenix-mercury\/","url_meta":{"origin":78928,"position":0},"title":"Robert Sarver says he&#8217;s starting process to sell NBA&#8217;s Phoenix Suns, WNBA&#8217;s Phoenix Mercury","date":"September 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Owner Robert Sarver on Wednesday announced that he has begun the process to sell both the NBA's Phoenix Suns and WNBA's Phoenix Mercury franchises.\"As a man of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness,\" Sarver said in a statement Wednesday. \"I expected that the commissioner's one-year suspension\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":74297,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/robert-sarver-announces-intention-to-sell-phoenix-suns-mercury\/","url_meta":{"origin":78928,"position":1},"title":"Robert Sarver announces intention to sell Phoenix Suns, Mercury","date":"September 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Robert Sarver is bowing out.The majority owner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury is \"seeking buyers\" for the two franchises a week after he was suspended for one year from any activities involving both teams and fined $10 million for ''workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies'' found during an NBA\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/09\/15\/PPHX\/d73b81c9-8ad4-461d-a03f-666b5a31e52c-USATSI_18133230.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":73884,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-to-sell-teams-after-harassment-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":78928,"position":2},"title":"Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver to sell teams after harassment report","date":"September 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver attends Game Two of the 2021 WNBA Finals at Footprint Center on October 13, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona.Christian Petersen | Getty ImagesPhoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver said he would begin the process to sell both professional basketball teams after a damning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":74120,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/robert-sarver-starts-process-of-selling-phoenix-suns-phoenix-mercury\/","url_meta":{"origin":78928,"position":3},"title":"Robert Sarver starts process of selling Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury","date":"September 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Amid mounting pressure from NBA players, sponsors and local government officials and following his one-year suspension for using racist and misogynistic language, Robert Sarver announced Wednesday plans to sell the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA's Mercury.The 60-year-old real estate developer said in a statement that he didn't want to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":78942,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/chris-paul-devin-booker-monty-williams-comment-on-robert-sarver-at-suns-media-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":78928,"position":4},"title":"Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Monty Williams comment on Robert Sarver at Suns media day","date":"September 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Phoenix Suns held their media day on Monday, which would normally be about nothing but the upcoming 2022-23 NBA season. There was definitely talk of basketball, but there was one non-basketball topic every player, executive, and coach had to comment on: Robert Sarver, the soon-to-be former owner of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":75375,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/who-could-buy-the-phoenix-suns-from-robert-sarver\/","url_meta":{"origin":78928,"position":5},"title":"Who could buy the Phoenix Suns from Robert Sarver?","date":"September 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It's hard to say where owner Robert Sarver's path to selling the Phoenix Suns and Mercury goes or how long it will take. He announced Wednesday that he is seeking a buyer for the franchises after a week of mounting pressure from the NBA to do more than suspend Sarver\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2022\/0516\/r1013432_1024x576_16-9.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78928"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}