How allegations against Suns owner Robert Sarver disrupted Draymond
Green’s day off
Green was featured in the opening paragraphs of an ESPN story alleging a
pattern of racism and misogyny under Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 8: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond
Green (23) warms up before their game against Los Angeles Lakers at
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (Anda
Chu/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 8: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond
Green (23) warms up before their game against Los Angeles Lakers at
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (Anda
Chu/Bay Area News Group)
By EVAN WEBECK | ewebeck@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 5, 2021 at 2:07 p.m. | UPDATED: November 5, 2021 at
2:58 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/11/05/how-allegations-against-suns-owner-robert-sarver-disrupted-draymond-greens-day-off/

SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green was just trying to enjoy his day off on
Thursday. He woke up, on about three hours sleep, and took his daughter
to school. He got home and tried to spend some time with his son.

“And my phone started blowing up,” Green said Friday, with Draymond Jr.
at his side. “I was just trying to enjoy my Thursday, my day off …
trying to mind my own business, man. That’s crazy. Crazy allegations.
Very crazy allegations. We’ll see what happens. But very serious
allegations.”

The Warriors’ star forward was featured prominently in an ESPN story
alleging a pattern of racism and misogyny under Phoenix Suns owner
Robert Sarver. In the opening paragraphs, Sarver, a white man, is quoted
as wondering why Green is allowed to use a racial epithet during a 2016
game in Phoenix while he cannot.

Green quickly weighed in with a pair of cryptic posts on social media:
“But I was fined?? Lol smh,” followed by, “Sometimes you have to see
deeper than the surface. Always layers…”

Green clarified Friday that the fine in question was in reference to the
$50,000 hit to his bank account after he appeared on TNT and advocated
the Suns trade star point guard Devin Booker. (“They gotta get Book out
of Phoenix. … It’s not good for him. It’s not good for his career.”)

Green also appeared to indicate that, while the story Thursday morning
may have come as a surprise, the specific allegations did not.

“There’s always more to the story,” Green said. “Word travels around
this league like wildfire, so it may not have been my first time hearing
this story yesterday. But that’s neither here nor there.”

The NBA said it will open an investigation into Sarver and the Suns
organization for the behavior reported by ESPN, which Sarver has denied.
According to ESPN, the Suns owner used the N-word on several occasions
and passed around photos of his wife in a swimsuit among other
accusations that amounted to a toxic work environment.

Asked if he had any input for investigators, Green mostly demurred.

“I just hope there aren’t any double standards,” he said. “We’re all a
part of this league, so I just hope the same standards that we have when
it comes to players (are) what we have when it comes to everybody in
this league. … If I was getting investigated for something, would I
still be able to be around the team? Would I still be able to freely
come to the game? Would I still be able to freely come to practice? I
don’t know.”

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Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has a longstanding relationship with
Sarver, a fellow graduate of the University of Arizona, also made an
appearance in the ESPN story.

Kerr, as the story goes, introduced Sarver to then-commissioner David
Stern in 2004, as Sarver was seeking to join the ownership ranks. He
later acted as Phoenix’s general manager from 2007-2010.

“I never saw anything that suggested racism or misogyny, and I was very
surprised to hear those allegations because that’s not the person that I
know,” Kerr told ESPN of his time with Sarver.

--
Evan Webeck | Reporter
Evan Webeck covers high-school sports on the field and beyond — and a
little bit of everything else — for the Bay Area News Group. A Pacific
Northwest native and graduate of Arizona State, Evan has previously
worked for The Seattle Times, MLB.com and Sports Illustrated.