An ESPN investigation, featuring interviews with more than 70 current and former Suns employees, reveals accusations of racism and misogyny against owner Robert Sarver -- and a toxic workplace many employees believe his behavior emboldened.
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After the loss, Suns majority owner Robert Sarver entered the coaches locker room, Watson told ESPN.
"You know, why does
Draymond Green get to run up the court and say [N-word]," Sarver, who is white, allegedly said, repeating the N-word several times in a row.
"You can't say that," Watson, who is Black and Hispanic, told Sarver.
"Why?" Sarver replied. "Draymond Green says [N-word]."
"You can't f---ing say that," Watson said again.
The anecdote offers a glimpse into conduct that, sources told ESPN, Sarver has often exhibited since buying the Suns in 2004. Interviews with more than 70 former and current Suns employees throughout Sarver's 17-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.
"The level of misogyny and racism is beyond the pale," one Suns co-owner said about Sarver. "It's embarrassing as an owner."
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've never called anyone or any group of people the N-word, or referred to anyone or any group of people by the N-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."
Sarver did acknowledge using the word once many years ago. "On one occasion a player used the N-word to describe the importance of having each others' back," Sarver said through his attorneys. "I responded by saying, 'I wouldn't say n---a, I would say that we're in the foxhole together.' An assistant coach approached me a short time after and told me that I shouldn't say the word, even if I were quoting someone else. I immediately apologized and haven't said it ever again. The N-word has never been a part of my vocabulary."