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[Holmes] ‘When are others going to be held accountable?’: Allegations of Suns misconduct extend beyond Robert Sarver



[Holmes] ‘When are others going to be held accountable?’: Allegations of Suns misconduct extend beyond Robert Sarver

by vquisling

11 Comments

  1. Federal_Ranger6102

    As soon as the Saudis take ownership.

  2. FrnklndaTurtle

    Best bet you can hope for is the stain hits them in future endeavors. They will all be gone once ownership changes. until then, without the NBA wanting to seriously act(they didn’t), no one else is going to be held accountable.

  3. browndude10

    >In interviews with more than two dozen current and former Suns employees, ESPN confirmed specific accounts of alleged misconduct by Rowley and other Suns executives in the report — and uncovered additional allegations, including verbal abuse of employees, mistreatment of pregnant and postpartum employees, and other instances of retaliation and intimidation.

    >Echoing a sentiment held by many current and former Suns colleagues, one current employee said: “Sarver created the culture, but [the executives] upheld it.”

    >”Leadership matters. I have taken full responsibility for my mistakes, and I have apologized for any harm that my words caused people,” Sarver said. “The idea that anyone had a ‘license to mistreat’ other employees is false and insulting — and not consistent with the high level of performance of the franchise and the experience of employees as reported in their anonymous feedback to the league in every survey conducted.”

    >After Rowley mentioned on the Zoom call that people tied to the investigative report’s findings would be held accountable, current and former employees were left to consider a different question: How, if at all, that desire would apply to key Suns executives, including the team president.

    >”That question really was asking,” one former employee said, “‘Are you going to fire yourself?'”

    >On Sept. 15, two days after the NBA announced its punishment for Sarver — a yearlong suspension and a $10 million fine — the league, working with Sarver, appointed Sam Garvin the team’s interim governor. Garvin is one of 13 minority owners who signed a statement in support of Sarver immediately after ESPN published its November 2021 story that prompted the league to investigate.

    >In the NBA’s official punishment letter to the Suns, according to team sources, it lists a series of provisions. In the section regarding the team’s interim governor, it reads: the Interim Governor shall not have the authority to do, or cause the Teams (or their holding company) to do, any of the following without Mr. Sarver’s prior written approval (and in all cases subject to applicable League rules and agreements):

    >The last provision: “terminate or hire a new Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, or Chief Revenue Officer of either team.”

    >In other words, CFO Jim Pitman, CRO Dan Costello and CEO Jason Rowley cannot, without Sarver’s written approval, be removed.

  4. vquisling

    >In early 2020, in another incident not in the Wachtell report, Rowley and his wife were attending another concert at the Suns’ arena. Neither of them, one former employee present then said, was wearing the orange badge. At one point, Rowley’s wife was stopped by an arena employee when she entered a restricted area, two former employees said.

    >Rowley allegedly became incensed and yelled at the employee, “Do you know who the hell I am?” Soon after, Rowley allegedly yelled at the employee’s manager, telling him to “fix the problem,” the former employees said. Rowley’s wife allegedly stood behind him, mouthing the words, “I’m so sorry.” Soon after, Rowley allegedly emailed the manager, demanding that the arena employee be fired, the former employees said. The manager, believing he would be terminated for not following orders, consulted with other Suns executives and was instructed not to fire the employee.

  5. Intelligent_Block_95

    Well allowing acolytes of Peter Thiel to buy the team is only going to make the culture worse.

  6. DirtyPlayerSuperfan

    What are they running a fuckin brothel out there?

  7. rustic_counter

    I still don’t know how more people in our organization didn’t get in a shitload of trouble for all crap that happened here, including Mr. Shark Tank himself.

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