Post: #1

Quote:Owner Robert Sarver, while saying the blame for his Phoenix Suns' struggles extends throughout the organization, has linked their challenges more broadly to "millennial culture," with forward Markieff Morris serving as a prime example.

In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Sarver questioned whether Morris, 26, wasn't meeting expectations this season because of what the owner thought could be trouble that his generation has with handling problems.

"I'm not sure it's just the NBA," Sarver said, when reached by The Republic via phone, regarding personality clashing and dysfunction within locker rooms. "My whole view of the millennial culture is that they have a tough time dealing with setbacks, and Markieff Morris is the perfect example. He had a setback with his brother in the offseason, and he can't seem to recover from it."

Morris' 2015 was beset with issues on and off the court, most recently a two-game suspension levied late last month by the Suns after he threw a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek during a game. The suspension cost Morris $145,455.

Morris, averaging 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 23.4 minutes in 23 games this season, has been angling for a trade since the offseason after his brother, Marcus Morris, was traded to the Detroit Pistons. Fined $10,000 by the league for a public trade demand, Markieff Morris has also been involved, along with his brother, in an apparently ongoing aggravated assault case stemming from an alleged incident at a Phoenix recreation center in January 2015. They entered not-guilty pleas to felony charges in May.

"I'm not sure if it's the technology or the instant gratification of being online," Sarver said. "But the other thing is, I'm not a fan of social media. I tell my kids it's like Fantasyland. The only thing people put online are good things that happen to them, or things they make up. And it creates unrealistic expectations.

"We've had a number of setbacks this year that have taken their toll on us, and we haven't been resilient. Therefore, it's up to our entire organization to step up their game."

The Suns tried to achieve two competing goals -- win now without sacrificing the future -- and failed in both, setting the franchise back and putting Jeff Hornacek's future in question.

That organization still includes Hornacek, after the Suns said last week they would be keeping him after reportedly considering his ouster. They instead promoted Earl Watson and Nate Bjorkgren to the bench to work closer to Hornacek and dismissed veteran assistants Mike Longabardi and Jerry Sichting.

"The reality is, there's only a half-dozen championship-caliber organizations in the NBA over the last 25 years," Sarver said. "My job is to find the right people and the right culture to eventually be one of those organizations, and it starts with me. I'm not shirking responsibility."

Since opening 7-5, the Suns have lost 20 of 25 games and stand 14th in the 15-team Western Conference at 12-25.

"The blame is to be shared from the top down," Sarver said. "Our leadership needs to communicate better. It needs to provide a better culture that provides for more accountability and more motivation. We have a lot of good, young players. They need to be playing hard, aggressively and on the same page whether we win or lose. That's what I expect going forward."

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/144995...al-culture

Sarver is one of the NBA's worst owners. He's a TARP recipient who is only really rich on paper, he's going to go the way of the Maloofs in terms of the league.

His penny-pinching, selling off draft picks during the Nash years when the team was still good, didn't help the Suns franchise.

The current mess started two years ago when several players decided to all have career years in the same season and the team as a whole overachieved, which led management to believe the team was better than it actually was. The team's incompetent GM, Sean McDonough, decided to re-sign and extend players who were never that good to long-term deals that immediately made the players overpaid and no fucks given about the team's success. Since then, everything he has touched has turned to shit.

As GM, McDonough has swung and missed on the Eric Bledsoe signing, the Goran Dragic trade, the Isiah Thomas trade, the Brandon Knight trade and signing, the Alex Len draft pick, the Tyson Chandler signing, the failure to trade Markieff Morris during the offseason, etc.

When your GM swings and misses on that many transactions, it can't possibly be a shock when the roster he's put together proves to be a dud.

GMs in the NBA often fire the coach as a misdirection for the finger pointing, now Sarver wants to blame his organization's self-inflicted wounds on millennial culture, that's an airball.

Post: #2

Sarver is an idiot. I had Suns season tickets up until two years ago. I sure am glad I gave them up!

Post: #3

Not really cheap when he way overpaid for Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler. I like Chandler, the other two not so much. Maxing out Goran Dragic would have been really stupid too. Firing Hornacek's assistants was kind of a curious move as well, kind of reminds me of the drama in Golden State with Mark Jackson.

Morris Twins are headcases. One pouted after the other was traded and they have like aggravated assault charges against them. Basically that team is locked up until they deal Morris, trade Chandler and start tanking. They need to unload Bledsoe or Knight, they are both mediocre players. I think Sarver chose the word millennial instead of a more nefarious word he probably wanted to use for them. Bledsoe is out for the year and they are in full-on tank mode now. Its a good draft so if they get a top pick that will help alot, especially if they get Ben Simmons.

Post: #4

Suns are a joke. I live here in Phoenix and never go to any of their games. Last time was about 8 years ago.

Post: #5

And Sarver is right as there is a whole subset of younger african-american males who grow up entitled. They rely on basketball or athletics and schools, coaches, and their total environment provides them whatever they want if they have the talent. They get out of school, get free stuff, kickbacks and are really whiny. Many are raised by single mothers and are "mama's boys". Its a strange dynamic, but essentially I think this is what Sarver is referring to. Many of these entitled types (who exhibit many of the signs of being a millennial) act like a man-child. They whine and pout whenever they don't get what they want and the Morris brothers are prime examples. Basketball is a business, some of these guys need to sack up.

Other guys who are kind of like this are Nick Young, Dwight Howard, etc.

Post: #6

Im from Kansas, I remember the Morris twins at KU always talking about how they'd hate to be separated from eachother and wouldn't know how to live without being around as twins 24/7.

if you draft someone that mentally weak then that's your own damn fault. Similar to Manziel where there's obvious signs of immaturity yet they draft them anyways.

Post: #7

(01-04-2016 07:05 PM)Drazen Wrote:  And Sarver is right as there is a whole subset of younger african-american males who grow up entitled. They rely on basketball or athletics and schools, coaches, and their total environment provides them whatever they want if they have the talent. They get out of school, get free stuff, kickbacks and are really whiny. Many are raised by single mothers and are "mama's boys". Its a strange dynamic, but essentially I think this is what Sarver is referring to. Many of these entitled types (who exhibit many of the signs of being a millennial) act like a man-child. They whine and pout whenever they don't get what they want and the Morris brothers are prime examples. Basketball is a business, some of these guys need to sack up.

Other guys who are kind of like this are Nick Young, Dwight Howard, etc.

I don't agree that pro athletes who are 'entitled' are only black.
Take a look at other major sports, American or otherwise, with fewer black athletes and you'll find that many have exhibited behavioural problems as adults at some point for similar reasons, namely almost living in a bubble for many years - practising many hours from a young age, being pushed in a certain direction by parents, coaches and other authority figures, receiving praise and adulation on the one hand, and criticism on the other, and believing that their destiny is to be a professional athlete. These are a few reasons, which also include the consequences of upbringing and socialisation and the type of family unit they come from. Add to that the fact that you have to be somewhat selfish to keep progressing up the ladder to the top leagues. Many athletes seem to be narcissists. I think these factors can affect any person regardless of skin colour, in a similar way.
White English soccer players are a good example.

Post: #8

(01-05-2016 04:32 AM)brick tamland Wrote:  

(01-04-2016 07:05 PM)Drazen Wrote:  And Sarver is right as there is a whole subset of younger african-american males who grow up entitled. They rely on basketball or athletics and schools, coaches, and their total environment provides them whatever they want if they have the talent. They get out of school, get free stuff, kickbacks and are really whiny. Many are raised by single mothers and are "mama's boys". Its a strange dynamic, but essentially I think this is what Sarver is referring to. Many of these entitled types (who exhibit many of the signs of being a millennial) act like a man-child. They whine and pout whenever they don't get what they want and the Morris brothers are prime examples. Basketball is a business, some of these guys need to sack up.

Other guys who are kind of like this are Nick Young, Dwight Howard, etc.

I don't agree that pro athletes who are 'entitled' are only black.
Take a look at other major sports, American or otherwise, with fewer black athletes and you'll find that many have exhibited behavioural problems as adults at some point for similar reasons, namely almost living in a bubble for many years - practising many hours from a young age, being pushed in a certain direction by parents, coaches and other authority figures, receiving praise and adulation on the one hand, and criticism on the other, and believing that their destiny is to be a professional athlete. These are a few reasons, which also include the consequences of upbringing and socialisation and the type of family unit they come from. Add to that the fact that you have to be somewhat selfish to keep progressing up the ladder to the top leagues. Many athletes seem to be narcissists. I think these factors can affect any person regardless of skin colour, in a similar way.
White English soccer players are a good example.

True, but I do believe young black males are probably more likely to be raised by single mothers and more likely protected mamas boys which can factor this kind of behavior more often.

Post: #9

A quick glance through google shows Sarver isn't universally popular. He's clearly one of the '1%' who could afford to throw a few hundred million into a franchise.
So Sarver is an accountant by profession (which might explain his apparent thriftiness) who became a finance baron. He grew up very rich (surprise, surprise). He's worth about 400 million USD and bought the Suns in 2004, and the sum paid was a record at the time. He's a sports fan and has made unsuccessful bids to buy the iconic Rangers soccer club from Scotland, and recently he's attempting to buy a lesser-known Spanish soccer team, RCD Mallorca. This is puzzling since on top of the purchase price, he'll have to spend millions of Euros on new players and probably a new stadium, which is money he will likely not make back. The team is not even playing in the top division of Spanish soccer after being relegated about 3 years ago.
Under his ownership the Suns had some success but have struggled recently. He is accused of meddling or making the wrong moves just when the team looks to be on the brink of earning some silverware in subsequent seasons.

Post: #10

"My whole view of the millennial culture is that they have a tough time dealing with setbacks"

I have no idea or interest in how the Suns have been run, but he's not wrong with that statement.

Post: #11

While his generalizations about millenials are somewhat true it's just a bullshit excuse for his poor decision-making skills. Kawhi Leonard and Steph Curry are millennials and they've gotten better statistically year after year while also making their teams better.

The Suns don't suck because of any cultural or societal malaise: They suck because the Suns front office doesn't know what the hell its doing.

Post: #12

All the teams have to deal with players in the same age bracket. Some teams win, and some teams lose. This guy is a loser.

He's also on the tail of what would be considered baby boomers. They are clearly the most worthless generation this country has had.