Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver announces that he has started the process to sell both franchises.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 21, 2022
Robert Sarver to sell Phoenix Suns and Mercury franchises as Shams Charania drops a casual Wednesday morning news dump.
Sarver has been under fire for work environment misconduct as well as racist remarks, among other things. The situations seems fairly similar to the Donald Sterling scandal with the Los Angeles Clippers around a decade ago.
The owner put out a statement, and oh buddy, the second paragraph starts out with a bang.
“As a man of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness. I expected that the commissioner’s one-year suspension would provide the time for me to focus, make amends and remove my personal controversy from the teams that I and so many fans love.”
Where have we heard, “as a man of faith,” before?
One year ago today, magic happened.
— Fitzy Mo Peña (@FitzyMoPena) August 19, 2021
Thom Brennaman prided himself as a man of faith.
Nick Castellanos sent a drive into deep left field to make it a 4-0 ballgame.
History was made. pic.twitter.com/J4MeQNiCJ4
Ah, yes, that’s right. Any time you hear or read those words you know it is about to be a stinker.
Sarver is currently suspended for the 2022-2023 season, and he’s only “seeking” for buyers of both franchises. That doesn’t mean the teams will be sold in the coming weeks, as this process could take a few years.
I’m all for new owners in sports leagues because they are typically sports fans, and will spend large amounts of money to give their teams the best chance to win a championship.
The Suns are considered an extremely desirable franchise in the marketplace and will have no shortage of high-level ownership candidates. As a warm weather destination in West, league executives always believed this could be a monster free agent destination with right ownership.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 21, 2022
Now that Robert Sarver is to sell Phoenix Suns and Mercury, who would be the best fit for ownership in the desert?