Sarver's league wide reputation--hang head low

[jagu]

Hard to take a sports.yahoo.com link seriously.

 

[carey]

Hard to take a sports.yahoo.com link seriously.

Are you high? Woj is one of the best NBA writers working today.

His coverage of Lebron leading up to and immediately after The Decision was amazing. He was the only one telling it like it was.

 

[jbeecham]

I've got no doubt the rest of the league thinks Sarver is a notorious windbag... but the article mentions nothing about what Sarver actually said & how that was taken. I'm not going to give the guy crap for being the only owner willing to stand up and speak when Stern is controlling everything for 4 hours & using fear & intimidation to shut the owners up.

 

[SirStefan32]

I've got no doubt the rest of the league thinks Sarver is a notorious windbag... but the article mentions nothing about what Sarver actually said & how that was taken. I'm not going to give the guy crap for being the only owner willing to stand up and speak when Stern is controlling everything for 4 hours & using fear & intimidation to shut the owners up.

I agree. Anyone who stands up to Stern is alright in my book.
I couldn't care less if other owners think he is a "notorious windbag."

I don't get some people's irrational hatred for Sarver.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Are we just talking locally? If so, then yeah, a championship would win him considerable favor in Arizona. However, I doubt it would do much to change the perception on this forum.

Steve

If you're a Suns fan, and you're not happy that he produces a championship, you have real issues. The percentage of haters post championship, whether here or in the real world would be minimal.

I love all those who jump to the defense of Sarver like hating what he's done to the team is irrational. He's turned the Suns from one of the most respected organizations to a running joke. I guess that's easy for some of you to forgive. Perhaps their opinion will change as we spin further down the toilet.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Adrian's been covering the NBA for longer than I've been out of college. He was at the Sporting News when I was at MCC in the 90s. I can't think of a more connected NBA reporter. I'm certain he's echoing the feelings of many people when he refers to Sarver as "notorious windbag." This isn't something Adrian's just observed. Many people must have made the same observation -- probably other owners and agents -- and not just recently. Adrian doesn't throw out terms like that unless there's some real toothy credibility to it.

Sadly, true. Even his buddies like Steve Kerr hate the guy so much that he quit, after repeatedly stating how much he enjoyed being a GM and wanted to stay on board. (Can't wait for the spin patrol on this one...)

 

[Cheesebeef]

Are we just talking locally? If so, then yeah, a championship would win him considerable favor in Arizona. However, I doubt it would do much to change the perception on this forum.

Steve

wrong... if this team won a title, that means it's owner did what was NECESSARY to put them in that position... as opposed to undercutting it every time it was close, which is what he did in 2005 with JJ after we got to the Conference Finals... then in 2006 by giving away first round picks and not resigning TT after we got to the Conference Finals... then in 2007 with the KT trade and then finally in 2010 when he blew the entire team up after we got to the Conference Finals. It's really ridiculous when you think about it... this team got to the conference finals three times (basically 4 with 2007) and after each of those years, he didn't ADD that final piece to get us over the hump... he SUBTRACTED MAJOR ones.

that's why he's looked at with such incredible scorn.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm certain he's echoing the feelings of many people when he refers to Sarver as "notorious windbag." This isn't something Adrian's just observed. Many people must have made the same observation -- probably other owners and agents -- and not just recently. Adrian doesn't throw out terms like that unless there's some real toothy credibility to it.

this was what I took issue with... not that stern was mad... but that our owner is looked at by everyone as a notorious windbag. I could care less what Stern thinks.

it's just sad that we went from the modicum of class with JC to a notorious windbag.

 

[Cheesebeef]

why do you think this is limited to other owners?

 

[JCSunsfan]

why do you think this is limited to other owners?

Correct. Players think it too.

 

[elindholm]

Guess what? Cuban is a notorious self-absorbed whining crybaby fanboi who thinks he's a basketball expert because he caught a wave on the internet financial bubble. Everyone from Stern to fellow owners to GMs to the players sees him that way.

Oh, sorry, that was last month.

 

[Errntknght]

Even last month we'd have all been thrilled to trade Sarver for Cuban.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Guess what? Cuban is a notorious self-absorbed whining crybaby fanboi who thinks he's a basketball expert because he caught a wave on the internet financial bubble. Everyone from Stern to fellow owners to GMs to the players sees him that way.

Oh, sorry, that was last month.

Sorry, but the above COMPLETELY ignores the fact that while Cuban is a blowhard he treats his players, his staff and his team like ROYALTY. and that's the BIGGEST way he's seen.

 

[devilalum]

Even last month we'd have all been thrilled to trade Sarver for Cuban.

Cuban's a much bigger tool than Sarver he just has a LOT more money and is willing to spend as much as it takes to get the players he wants.

 

[carey]

Yeah, basically you can be a dick or cheap, but certainly not both like Sarver.

(In before the Sarver is not cheap just stupid posts too...)

 

[AsUdUdE]

Cuban's a much bigger tool than Sarver he just has a LOT more money and is willing to spend as much as it takes to get the players he wants.

Which would make him a MUCH better owner...

ANY owner (including Dan Synder) that is willing to spend money is at the VERY least a solid owner...

$aver is only willing to go the BARE minimum, period..

That is why MORE THAN ANYTHING I hope the coming out of the lockout there will be a hard cap in place...

In reality it really would be the only way the Suns could possibly compete for a championship in the next decade (or as long as Sarver owns the team)..

 

[TRW]

In reality it really would be the only way the Suns could possibly compete for a championship in the next decade (or as long as Sarver owns the team)..

In reality, Sarver has just as many NBA championship rings/banners as the former owner did. None.

It's more than just a good/bad owner that wins. It is a combination of $$$ spent wisely on coaches AND players (a la LA Lakers), luck (injuries on the home team AND in the league) and both of those dynamics coming together with team chemistry on the court.

Sarver doesn't spend the $$$ wisely at all. Luck was simply not with the former owner on a couple of occasions, he was close but no cigar!

Sarver is easy to take pot shots at, I'm not sure it's all so deserved. But, it makes good board fodder.

Just my 2 cents worth. Not much, I know.

 

[Matt L]

I don't understand everyone's irrational hate for David Stern

 

[carey]

I don't understand everyone's irrational hate for David Stern

You might be the ONLY one. He's the most arrogant and smug person, let alone
commissioner, I've ever laid eyes on.

I need to dig up some articles for you about how he treats people. What always boggles me is that the owners pay him a salary to look out for their interests and he treats THEM like ****.

 

[Cheesebeef]

You might be the ONLY one. He's the most arrogant and smug person, let alone
commissioner, I've ever laid eyes on.

I need to dig up some articles for you about how he treats people. What always boggles me is that the owners pay him a salary to look out for their interests and he treats THEM like ****.

yeah, i've got no love lost for stern. at least i'll give goodell and demaurice smith credit for this... neither would take a cent with the lockout in the NFL until it was over... stern and billy hunter scoffed at this notion.

 

[Errntknght]

I don't understand everyone's irrational hate for David Stern

I have no irrational hatred for Stern, but I hate his sorry butt.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Sadly, true. Even his buddies like Steve Kerr hate the guy so much that he quit, after repeatedly stating how much he enjoyed being a GM and wanted to stay on board. (Can't wait for the spin patrol on this one...)

You can spin things negatively and you can spin things positively. IMO, the anti-Sarver people are spinning EVERYTHING so negatively that a few of us feel obliged to try and counter-spin a little. I don't see anyone here really defending Sarver. You guys say he's Satan and we say maybe he's just a minor demon. We're not out here trumpeting the guy, we're merely trying to keep a little balance. Personally, I can't stand what he's done to the Suns and I wish JC still owned and ran this team. But, unlike a few people here, I don't really think he's responsible for global warming, the depression or the Lindbergh kidnapping.

Steve

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I don't really think he's responsible for global warming, the depression or the Lindbergh kidnapping.

He has a ladder, I'm not ruling him out of killing that poor baby.

I think you're being a bit overdramatic here. I'd be interested to see what I have said about Sarver that isn't true, specifically. Sarver gets a lot of blame here, but hey, heavy is the head that wears the crown. I feel zero sympathy for a guy who is clearly in over his head, and who nobody respects. From fans, to opposing coaches, to players and owners, the guy is considered an absolute clown. There isn't much to defend.

 

[Bufalay]

If the Suns had won two more games against the Lakers last June, everyone would love Sarver. (You'll notice that the Cuban haters have disappeared.) I think he's in over his head and has some deep personality flaws, but I don't regard him as the personification of evil.

I don't know, it seemed like Kerr was the one getting all of the credit back then.

 

[AzStevenCal]

He has a ladder, I'm not ruling him out of killing that poor baby.

I think you're being a bit overdramatic here. I'd be interested to see what I have said about Sarver that isn't true, specifically. Sarver gets a lot of blame here, but hey, heavy is the head that wears the crown. I feel zero sympathy for a guy who is clearly in over his head, and who nobody respects. From fans, to opposing coaches, to players and owners, the guy is considered an absolute clown. There isn't much to defend.

And I don't know if there's a single thing said here about Sarver that isn't true. He really could be every bit as bad as most here make him out to be. But, it seems to me, that every time anything can be interpreted negatively and applied to Sarver, it's routinely done as such.

The Kerr exit is a perfect example. We're on the outside looking in but it's pretty much taken as gospel here (despite a lack of evidence) that Kerr left because Sarver was cheap or Sarver was petty or Sarver is an idiot etc. For all we know, Sarver might have forced him out the door because he was displeased over the Thomas trade or the Porter hiring etc.

I really don't like sticking up for Sarver because even if he isn't to blame for all the ills of the Suns world, he's certainly to blame for some of them (perhaps many of them). We're in a tough spot and if Sarver is as bad as you and many others believe, we're never going to get out of that tough spot until he divests himself of control. If you guys are right, there's very little reason to continue investing time and money in this team until that occurs. I can't wait that long so I will continue to hold out hope that he is sufficiently ego driven to recognize and improve on his own areas of weakness.

Steve