On Sept. The young Phoenix Suns team had been toiling at the bottom of the NBA's standings for years, missing the playoffs for six straight seasons while churning through head coaches.
Watson was the fourth in as many years. Still, the Suns were playing the eventual NBA champions close, even leading by 13 in the first half. But it didn't last. The Warriors took control in the fourth quarter and cemented a win, dropping the Suns to The anecdote offers a glimpse into conduct that, sources told ESPN, Sarver has often exhibited since buying the Suns in Interviews with more than 70 former and current Suns employees throughout Sarver's year tenure describe a toxic and sometimes hostile workplace under Sarver.
Some told ESPN that he has used racially insensitive language repeatedly in the office. Employees recounted conduct they felt was inappropriate and misogynistic, including Sarver once passing around a picture of his wife in a bikini to employees and speaking about times his wife performed oral sex on him. Some said the longtime owner fostered an environment in which employees felt they were his property, even once asking one woman whether he "owned" her to determine whether she worked for the Suns.
Said a former Suns basketball executive: "There's literally nothing you could tell me about him from a misogynistic or race standpoint that would surprise me. Through his legal team, Sarver denied using racially insensitive language. I don't use that word. It is abhorrent and ugly and denigrating and against everything I believe in. Sarver did acknowledge using the word once many years ago. I immediately apologized and haven't said it ever again.
The N-word has never been a part of my vocabulary. In the case of the Oct. Sarver said he encouraged the player to appeal the technical foul because Green had used the word in the game -- the technical foul was later rescinded by the league.
