Sarver Becoming an Embarrassment Around The League

[rsavaj]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

What. A. Douche.

[Kdab]

Think he'll become the Al Davis of the NBA?

[b-ball forever]

"becoming" ?

[TASTIC]

He's been nothing but a Grade A douche since he bought us

Seriously this guy isn't an owner or a fan, he's a bafoon

[sunsfolife]

Agree with all you guys, just terrible.
I met with him a couple years ago and you could tell he was a douche, I guess just the attitude.
I hope he goes BANKRUPT!

[Miklo]

good article thanks for posting

[ruiner]

Well, if the Suns start losing more and lose money, best thing is that Sarver would probably end up selling.

[eastsidecrossover]

no one is Al Davis crazy. Sarver might be bad, but this is his team and investment. I don't blame him for being involved, but I do think he is going to far. I also think most of the media is doing what they do and overinflate the situation to get reads.

[Mr. Sun]

Sarver thinks John Fkn' Kerry is the answer to all. enuff said.

[lilfishi22]

Well, if the Suns start losing more and lose money, best thing is that Sarver would probably end up selling.

The problem is that in this economic climate very very few people with the money would be willing to invest in sporting franchises which don't turnover much profit.

And we for sure don't want a guy who can JUST afford to buy the franchise.

[garrick]

Whatever mistakes Jerry made he was very well respected by his peers and by the team, Sarver has just been a joke of an owner up till now and I am ashamed that we have an idiot like him as the owner.
We lost key people in the front office because of him, Rex, Bryan and the whole Mike D coaching staff.

[Hawks]

Sarver is making the Hawks ownership look good. That is tough to do. Regardless we are both stuck with bad owners. Sarver sales draft picks and ASG treats it FAs with no respect that one is willing to go overseas and the hometown kid want to leave.

[mkot]

After five long years, he finally has become the face of the Phoenix Suns.

No wonder this team has finally become a laughing stock in the league.

[Cash]

What a depressing article.

[Frank Lee]

Al Davis has 3 world championships... that should squash any similarity comparison


What a telling article. I knew the guy was a baffoon when I saw his chicken dance...then the foam finger, and the trampolinedunk.... But the rest of this crap too ??? This is as bad as I have felt as a Suns fan...and I can see very few reasons to be excited about anything this franchise may offer over the next couple of yrs.

Some one should print up and distribute 10000 copies of this at the next SUNS game.... and both Sarver and Kerr should be run out of town.

[amb1ent]

anecdote time:

Also, did I ever mention on here that I once had 3rd row tickets to a Suns game and Sarver walked by, I shouted "Quit selling our draft picks!" and he looked at me and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together to symbolize 'cash', what a douche.

[JohnVancouver]

Bill Simmons, Requiem for SSOL

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/080501


...I don't know Robert Sarver. Never met the guy, never heard anything bad about him, couldn't vouch for his financial situation. For all I know, he's the greatest guy ever. But for the life of me, I can't imagine why someone would want to own an NBA team if he cared more about breaking even than winning a championship. What's the point? Why not sell to someone who cares more about a title? Like so many other NBA fans, I have a pipe dream of stumbling into enough wealth to own an NBA team some day. It will never happen, but really, it's my ultimate pipe dream other than my daughter turning into a world-class tennis player and me turning into one of those deranged Tennis Dads who shows up for every match flashing hand signals and intimidating the judges. Anyway, if I were fortunate enough to own an NBA team, I would never, ever, EVER favor my pockets over a chance at a title. I just wouldn't. It's like going to Vegas for a guy's weekend and refusing to lose more than $100. Why even go then? Just stay home.

For instance, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck once vowed never to pay the luxury tax like Sarver. When a potential Garnett deal started to take shape this summer, and the Celtics realized that their payroll could climb into the mid 70s (that's millions) once they filled out the roster with free agents and buyout guys, instead of just blindly saying, "Nope, sorry, we can't do this," the Celtics spent an inordinate amount of time figuring out exactly how they'd make that money back through ticket sales, merchandise revenue, corporate sponsorships, 2009 ticket hikes, playoff money, extra courtside seats and everything else. They left no stone unturned. Eventually, the decision was made that the Garnett trade was worth the risk -- they owed it to the fans, and if they couldn't figure out how to capitalize financially on a rejuvenated Celtics franchise in a sports-crazed city that absolutely loved basketball once upon a time, then they had failed as an organization. They made the trade. And if you watch any of the home Celtics playoff games, you'll see Grousbeck sitting underneath the basket next to the visitor's bench. He's the happiest guy in the building.

That could have been Sarver. Could the Suns have done more? Did they leave every stone unturned? Did they maximize the financial potential of those teams? Did they fail as an organization to capitalize on a potential dynasty? Looking at those moves from 2004 to 2007, you'd have to call the Seven Seconds of Less Era one of the memorably squandered opportunities in recent sports history.

[Kdab]

Random Raged Suns fan on Robert Sarver

Robert Sarver (born 1961 in Tucson, Arizona) is the current majority owner of the Phoenix Suns. He bought the NBA franchise from Jerry Colangelo in the spring of 2004.

His father was Jack Sarver, a prominent Tucson businessman, banker and hotel developer (the elder Sarver built the Aztec Inn, the Plaza International Hotel (now a Four Points by Sheraton) at Speedway and Campbell in Tucson in the early 1970s[1], built and operated the Tucson area Howard Johnson's locations and headed a local savings and loan). Jack Sarver died of a heart attack in 1979; Robert Sarver would eventually donate to his alma mater, the University of Arizona, funds to its heart research center, which in 1998 was renamed the Sarver Heart Center in honor of his father.[2]

After graduating from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1982, Robert Sarver founded the National Bank of Arizona (then the National Bank of Tucson) at age 23 in 1984. He sold it to Zions Bancorporation in 1994. Prior to the sale, National Bank of Arizona had become the largest independent bank in the state. In 1995 he acquired Grossmont Bank, one of San Diego's largest community banks.

A lifelong sports fan, Sarver’s quest to purchase an NBA team began with a conversation with University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson. Olson referred Sarver to Steve Kerr, a former player at Arizona and a 15-year NBA veteran, to assist him in buying an NBA franchise. Within a short period from the time of purchase, $arver began meddling in team affairs, which has thus far been measured in Steinbrenner-esque proportions.

Sarver first began his alienation of Planet Orange's fan base by requiring that anyone interested in Suns season tickets also purchase season tickets to the WNBA Phoenix Mercury and also season tickets to the Arizona Rattlers of the AFL (Arena Football League). This was perhaps the first sign of what was to come with $arver's penny-wise but pound-foolish ways.

Sarver then began the systematic dismantling of this once-proud franchise first by refusing to pay core players like Joe Johnson and dumping promising youngsters Eddie House and James Jones and savvy veterans Jim Jackson and Tim Thomas. Brought in to shore up the bench instead were such memorable stalwarts like Marcus Banks, Pat Burke, Sean Marks, Brian Skinner, Gordon Giricek, and Lou Amundson (the sum collective talents of which the aforementioned could be most appropriately described as: they would not be Sixth Man of the Year candidates even if they were playing against Mortie Seinfeld, Izzy Mandelbaum, and the rest of the Del Boca Vista All-Stars). He then began peddling multiple draft picks for cash and thereby robbing the team of valuable depth--picks that later became Luol Deng, Rajon Rondo, Rudy Fernandez, and Sergio Rodriguez, and two-time NBA dunk contest champion Nate Robinson. Additionally, $arver botched the front office by running off respected G.M. Bryan Colangelo and former owner Jerry Colangelo (who was still serving as an advisor to Sarver), and hiring his stooge Steve Kerr.

Despite having absolutely no management experience prior to his hire, Kerr was handed the G.M. job by Sarver. Apparently that diploma from the "Matt Millen School of General Managing" (by cutting his teeth in the hard-scrabble playground of TNT color analyst and column writer for Yahoo! Sports) adequately prepared Kerr for the job. Kerr promptly became the front-man for $arver's penny-pinching ways and revealed his management acumen by dumping Kurt Thomas (and his $8 million salary) along with two first round draft picks (NOT LOTTERY-PROTECTED) to the Seattle Sonics for a second round pick and cash! Seattle's G.M. promptly traded Thomas to the Spurs, the Suns long-time nemesis in the playoffs (many will remember that Thomas was originally brought to Phoenix to give them an inside presence and match up with Spurs big man Tim Duncan). Kerr continued his bumbling ineptitude, when, at the trade deadline 2008 he traded Shawn "The Matrix" Marion to Miami for the plodding, slow-footed shell-of-his-former-self, Shaquille O'Neal. Draft night in the Suns "war room" with Sarver and Kerr "wheelin and dealin" throwing away players and draft picks is reminiscent of the scene from the movie "Dumb and Dumber" when Harry and Lloyd arrive at the hotel in Aspen, crawl out of the red Lamborghini, and hand out $100 bills to anybody and everybody.

The turbulent season finally culminated in an ugly divorce with beloved Coach Mike D'Antoni, architect of the Suns "Seven Seconds or Less" style of play. D'Antoni, whom was presumably tired of being the scapegoat for the $arver/Kerr tandem's bumbling moves and $arver's boorish courtside behavior, bolted for the league-worst New York Knicks after several well-publicized spats with Kerr.

D'Antoni then served as an assistant coach on the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic Mens Basketball Team at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Ironically, the "Redeem Team" roster was composed of players recruited primarily by Jerry Colangelo, whom after his unceremonious dismissal from the Suns, went on to become president of USA Basketball (the governing body which presides over the Olympic program and roster).

Ever the astute evaluator of talent, Kerr's 2009 draft was quite forgettable in that it produced Stanford-softie Robin Lopez, commonly mistaken for Side Show Bob of "The Simpsons" fame, and Goran Dragic, the European sharpshooter who couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat.

Not satisfied with their series of bungled moves, the dynamic duo of Sarver and Kerr then hired Terry Porter as head coach of the Suns during this past off-season. The interview process was considered a sham by Suns fans everywhere, as Porter was the only candidate brought in that had any head coaching experience and had previous ties to Kerr from their time together as players with the San Antonio Spurs. Players did not buy into Porter's style of coaching/play, and there was widespread grumbling by veteran players as early as training camp. Kerr then continued his history of chasing one bad move with another, trading top defender Raja Bell and disappointing forward Boris Diaw to the Charlotte Bobcats for high-scoring/no defense Jason Richardson. This despite preaching to fans that defense would be the area of focus for the 2008-09 season. Porter was made the scapegoat for $arver's and Kerr's transgressions, and was dumped at the All-Star break--thereby staining the All-Star game weekend/festivities (which was held in Phoenix that year). In his half-season in Phoenix, Richardson has already been arrested twice; once for DUI and the second time for reckless driving (while allegedly driving 90 MPH in a 35 MPH zone with an unrestrained 3-yr old child in the backseat). At the time of this writing, Kerr is actively "listening to offers" for the only young core player in their fold worth keeping (Amar'e Stoudamire).

$arver's short and less-than-stellar ownership tenure leaves many Suns fans wondering whether he is the second-coming of Donald Sterling (the boob who owns the Los Angeles Clippers) or Ted Stepien (who drove the Cleveland Cavaliers to the brink of insolvency in three short seasons 1980-82). Kerr's amateurish bumbling side show circus leaves many wondering what is coming next--perhaps Steve Nash to the Raptors for their locker-room washing machine/dryer and a pile of used jock straps; or Amar'e Stoudamire to the Chicago Bulls for a case of Icy Hot, JJ's old apartment in Cabrini-Green (sorry, Aunt Wilona not included), and the ghost of Artis Gilmore's afro. It seems that only when Bobby/Stevie lure Lute Olson out of retirement will the circle of demolition be complete.

But look on the bright side Phoenix fans, at least Kerr hasn't pulled the "Garney Henley" and drafted somebody who died 6 months ago.

$arver sits on the Board of Trustees of the $arver Heart Center, which he helped build in memory of his late father, who was among the first in an experimental group to undergo bypass surgery. The center now houses over 40 physicians and researchers dedicated to fighting heart disease.

$arver has a 27 handicap in golf[citation needed], plays tennis and volleyball, and enjoys going to California in his spare time.

During his first date with his eventual wife, Penny Sanders, he invited her to watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament in his casita.

Most Phoenix Suns fans wish he had stayed there and never entered our lives.

He and his wife, a Kansas City, Missouri native, have three boys: Max, Jake and Zach.

$arver is a 1979 graduate of Sabino High School in Tucson.

$arver currently lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sarver