太陽老闆被指控（2） - NBA

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32440987/phoenix-suns-robert-sarver-allegations-racism-misogyny

太陽老闆被指控（二）

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NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said she was not aware of any reports from players of misconduct by Sarver or the Suns. "Apart from [point guard Chris Paul] and James Jones, we have not had much official contact with the team and none that I can think of with Sarver."
Current and former Suns employees told ESPN that Sarver is known to say he is "brutal to work for," a line he has repeated over the years, even in job interviews. Sarver has told executives they were "paid a lot of money to put up with my s---."
"If the commissioner comes in and investigates to see what the f--- is going on in Phoenix," one current business operations employee told ESPN, "[he] would be appalled."

NBPA的M Roberts說他們也沒收到相關指控，他與除了CP3(前會長）與JJ以外的太陽隊成員並沒有太多接觸- 我想他也不會與沙佛有太多接觸。

多位前任與現任成員都說，「我對你們很嚴厲（可以理解為壓榨）」是殺佛的口頭禪，他認為他付錢給員工就是找他們來當____的

如果有專員到太陽隊調查整件事情，他會震驚的 ，一位現任太陽營運成員說。

THERE WERE WARNING signs from the beginning.
The Suns were coming off a 29-53 season in 2004, and an early major decision for Sarver centered on signing the team's top free agent that summer, Steve Nash.
A recruiting pitch was set for the start of free agency. Among Sarver and others, attendees included Nash's agent Bill Duffy and 2003 Rookie of the Year Amar'e Stoudemire, both of whom are Black. Three people in the room told ESPN that, during the meeting, Sarver made a comment they felt was racially insensitive; they could not recall specifics but said they felt he too loosely used the term "Black guy" during the conversation.

警訊從（沙佛入主）一開始就顯現了

04年只拿29勝的太陽，在沙佛入主的第一個重大決定就是引進Nash

與會者包含了Nash的經紀人與阿罵（Stoudemire），他們認為在那次會議中，沙佛提到有色人種時顯得不夠「敏感」 - 他提到黑人時的態度過於輕佻。

Ultimately, the Suns got their target, but "we signed Steve Nash despite Robert," said a basketball executive who was there.


最終太陽還是簽下了Nash ,儘管有沙佛在場。 一位參與其中的高管說

（其實我不懂是什麼意思 ， 是指沙佛一直幫倒忙？）


Sarver's lawyers told ESPN the anecdote was too vague and happened too long ago to address specifically, but they did note that nothing racially inappropriate was said and that 73% of NBA players in 2004 were Black. "Thus, those conversations certainly would have referenced Black men." Sarver, they said, was "integral" to signing Nash.
It was one of the first instances in which Sarver's conduct raised questions among employees.

沙佛的律師說，當年2004NBA 已經有73%的黑人,所以談話中不可能不提到黑人，而沙佛對於簽下Nash有無可替代的作用



At least a half-dozen Suns staffers recounted to ESPN instances of Sarver hearing a story from a Black player and then using the same language when retelling it, down to the usage of the N-word.
"You're like, 'Whoa! Robert, you can't do that,'" said one former basketball executive. Another former Suns head coach said such instances were commonplace. A Black basketball operations staffer told ESPN he has heard Sarver say the N-word multiple times.
Sarver once used the N-word when trying to explain to a staffer why he preferred hiring Lindsey Hunter over Dan Majerle as head coach in 2013, according to a high-level executive who heard the remark. Hunter was a first-year Suns player development coordinator while Majerle was in his fifth year as a Suns associate head coach.
"These [N-words] need a [N-word]," Sarver told the staffer of his largely Black team, according to the executive.
Sarver again cited race as the reason the team needed to hire Watson as head coach in 2016, a former Suns basketball executive said: A young Black coach could better relate to Black players, Sarver reasoned, and could "speak their language."
Through legal representation, Sarver denied the allegation about Hunter, saying he never used the N-word and "never used words to that effect," and said race was never discussed during Watson's hiring process.

多位球員與太陽的前員工，都提到沙佛在敘述他從黑人球員身上聽來的故事，會一字不漏的複敘，包含N -word

他們都會告訴沙佛你不能這樣說

而看起來沙佛相當不以為然

且沙佛的律師否認了所有指證，並且說明他在招募Waston的時候並沒有考慮到種族問題

Before the 2017-18 season, a tense front-office situation provided another glimpse into interactions with Sarver employees felt were racially insensitive. Late in the previous season, point guard Eric Bledsoe had been benched in a tanking effort led by Sarver, former basketball operations staffers said.

Issues with the benching percolated into the offseason, when Bledsoe was eligible for a contract extension.

17-18年的時候，人們又再次見到沙佛與員工對種族議題的「不敏感」

當時在沙佛主導的情況，讓Bledsoe從板凳出發。而當雷獸需要續約時，板凳/先發的問題被延續到了休賽季。




Contract talks eventually led Bledsoe's Klutch Sports agent, Rich Paul, to communicate directly with Sarver -- the Suns owner didn't want to extend Bledsoe's contract in part due to concerns about Bledsoe's durability, plus concerns that the team had performed poorly with him as the starting point guard, according to sources at the time. Paul responded to Sarver's remarks by saying that he knew basketball and that they "weren't talking about tennis," Sarver's childhood sport.
Sarver erupted at the dig, according to two people with knowledge of the interaction, telling Paul he was going to fire Watson as the team's head coach if Watson didn't sever ties with Klutch, which had been representing Watson, within 10 days - just after the start of the season.
Watson said that Sarver's ultimatum quickly reached him. He asked Sarver if he was serious.
"Yeah, I will f---ing fire you," Sarver told Watson. "You have 10 days to think about it. Don't wait too long."
Watson said he explained to Sarver the optics of a white owner asking a Black coach to fire an agency led by a Black agent, Paul.
"Yeah, I understand what race you two are," Sarver replied, according to Watson. "So I'm asking you, How bad do you want your job?"
Watson said he told Sarver that he wasn't going to fire Klutch.
"You can do whatever you want," Watson said he told Sarver. "You own this team, but my culture is not for sale. And I'm not for sale."
Through legal representation, Sarver said his issue with Klutch was solely due to a conflict of interest -- that a coach and a player could not be represented by the same agent. Sarver denied that the conversation had anything to do with race.
Watson, when told of Sarver's response, said: "Rich [Paul] was never my agent." Watson was represented by Klutch Sports, which is owned by Paul.
"Guess who did my contract when I got hired to be a head coach [with the Suns]? Klutch," Watson said. "If Klutch did my contract, wouldn't [the Suns] have just told me, 'We can't sign you because it's a conflict of interest?' They did my interim contract, and they did my other contract. They did two contracts for me."
The Suns lost their first three games of the season by a combined 92 points. Watson's final game as head coach was a 130-88 loss to the Clippers; Sarver fired him the next day.
"It's almost like an ownership thing," Watson told ESPN. "He wants people to call him and beg him."

簡單說就是沙佛不想花大錢續約雷獸，因為對他作為先發PG的續航力有點質疑。

而作為雷獸的經紀人，Klutch Sports的富堡與沙佛談判，而富堡用 「我懂籃球，這與你小時候玩的網球不一樣。」 回擊


（我自己詢問米國人，這段話其實是指 籃球是黑人的運動，白人還是去打網球就好了）

想當然沙佛大發雷霆，他直接告訴富堡，他將讓Watson炒了Klutch 作為報復，不然他將會開除Watson

當Watson得知後親自與沙佛會面

沙佛開門見山的告訴Watson , 他有10天的時間考慮 - 我他媽的真的會開除你

Watson跟沙佛解釋，並告知你是否知道你在威脅一個黑人離開由另外一個黑人領導的機構意味著什麼

沙佛直接說，我知道你們都是黑人，你需要考慮的是你是否還想要你的工作

Watson告訴沙佛他不會解僱Klutch

你可以對你的球隊為所欲為，但我對我的文化/信仰/種族是不會出賣的 ，Watson說

而沙佛律師給出的解釋，他與Klutch之間的糾紛來自於利益衝突。

他不希望球員與教練埋首同一個經紀人

Watson: 我的經紀人不是富堡 ，而是Klutch

最終沙佛在開季第三場比賽輸球後解僱了Watson

Watson告訴ESPN ,沙佛的行為就像他是我們的擁有者，他希望人們求他。


（抱歉…真的很難順暢翻譯）




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