Defending The ‘Millennial Culture’ To Disgruntled Suns Owner Robert Sarver

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver has a problem. It’s not an uncommon one for people Sarver’s age: mid-50s. Sarver’s problem has got to do with millennials, or — to borrow the Oxford Dictionary definition, because even the noun for millennials is in question — “those people reaching the age of young adulthood around the year 2000.”

Pew Research says 18-34 year-olds in 2015 are millennials, and even if that defers with the Oxford definition and my own experience, I’m going to use it as a baseline. As such, I’m a millennial (so is my coworker, Chris Mottram, so make sure to refer to him as such from now on).

When Sarver spoke to Arizona Republic columnist Dan Bickley for a recent piece about the changing of the guard in Phoenix, with the surprising Arizona Cardinals overtaking the Phoenix Suns in popularity and winning percentage, he dropped this delightful kernel about the millennial generation:

“I’m not sure it’s just the NBA,” Sarver said. “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.

“I’m not sure if it’s the technology or the instant gratification of being online. But the other thing is, I’m not a fan of social media. I tell my kids it’s like Fantasy Land. 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.”

If you’ve been following along at home, Markieff Morris has experienced a rocky time in the arid desert of Arizona since the Suns traded his twin brother to Detroit in July to clear space for a run at LaMarcus Aldridge — who plays the same position as Markieff. After that happened, he told a Philly reporter he wanted to be traded, and crowed about getting dealt all summer before quickly changing tune when it came to training camp (and the bi-monthly paydays that go along with meeting your contractual obligations). Since then he’s thrown a towel at head coach Jeff Hornacek that got him suspended for a pair of games, and he’s just not playing very well. Recently, his twin brother said ‘Kieff still wants out of Phoenix.

That’s who Robert Sarver is referring to in his quote above, but — without defending Markieff Morris’ behavior in recent months — I’d like to defend millennial culture from Sarver’s accusatory hypocrisy. Because he’s talking about something he knows nothing about.

First, I’d like to clear a few things up for Mr. Sarver about the millennial generation and social media. Unfortunately, both are a part of my job. While I don’t agree with Mr. Sarver at all, I can see where he’s coming from. I’m not a fan of Twitter, but that’s mainly because I’m no good at it. Plenty of people are, and some of my favorite basketball beat reporters, most of whom are outside of the millennial age range, are actually fun follows even for the ADD-addled “millennial culture” Sarver speaks of. In fact, social media is such a prominent part of everyday sports discourse, I’m probably hurting any chances for future advancement because of how little I cultivate an authoritative voice on Twitter. But, whatever. I tweet. I have to for my job even if it’s still a lot more preferable to talk with people.

I’ve always thought the online world was basically a town square with the clique-y feel of a high school cafeteria (or at least a cafeteria when I was in high school during the late 90s). People are going to make a medium of expression whatever they want, and Twitter has turned into one of the most popular ever. People shouldn’t denigrate it simply because they don’t get it.

That’s not my only gripe with the “millennial culture” Sarver is talking about, though.

Have I sat in the Ace Hotel with a single friend and marveled at a group of kids (21 to 23 years old) who took selfies for 10 minutes without ordering a drink before angling out as they scrolled through those very same photos they just took while never once looking up at the people around them? Yes, I have. Recently, in fact. And while those kids and their behavior might represent a small fraction of the millennial culture Sarver speaks out about, it’s only a fraction, and all of those kids aren’t hurting anyone with their own brand of narcissism. All young people are full of themselves. I know I was. And if an image of themselves makes those kids I saw at the Ace Hotel feel a little bit better about who they are, or who they want to be, what the hell is wrong with that?

I’m as uncomfortable with the “me generation” components of millennials as Sarver is, too, but that’s not where he lost me. No, it’s when he incorrectly stated that millennials “have a tough time dealing with setbacks.”

Robert Sarver doesn’t get to tell me or anyone else about “dealing with setbacks.”

Sarver’s dad was an influential banker, hotel developer and businessman. Jack Sarver built the Aztec Inn and the Plaza International Hotel (now an Aloft Hotel) as well as the Tucson-area Howard Johnson locations. He headed a local savings and loan practice, too. At 16 years old, Robert Sarver went to work for his father’s company, “American Savings and Loan,” and in 1983, the younger Sarver became a Certified Public Accountant. He’s followed the typical wealthy American ascension a lot of team owners have enjoyed in every professional sport. Jack Sarver might be able to tell me about setbacks, but Robert Sarver forfeited that privilege with privilege.

While I have no idea the amount of work and cunning it took for Robert Sarver to get where he is today as the owner of the Phoenix Suns, I do know based off that brief biography that Sarver wasn’t dealing with the “setbacks” I know Markieff Morris has experienced on his journey to the NBA.

Marcus and Markieff shared a bed, pushing two mattresses together. (Twin mattresses, as it happened). For the rest of high school, they lit kerosene at night to stay warm. “People were in Philly that don’t even have houses, so I never felt sorry for myself – I never want anyone to feel sorry for me,” Marcus said.

I don’t feel sorry for Marcus or Markieff, both of whom are making more money than I’ll ever even dream about while essentially playing a children’s game (one I luckily get to cover as a job). And I don’t particularly like how either Morris twin has conducted themselves in public over the last year. But I also think both players — and every other millennial NBA player — should receive the credit they deserve for getting to the absolute zenith of the game they play. Making an NBA roster is incredibly difficult to do, and — with rather rare exceptions — every single man who plays in the Association has a work ethic that rivals or even supersedes Robert Sarver’s and those of his owner brethren.

Millennials are plenty of things, both good and bad. They can be annoyingly self-referential, like I was with this piece (particularly that Ace Hotel section, which yuke). But they can also handle “setbacks” just fine. Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris are actually prime examples of just that, even if they should stop ripping the Suns so much in public.

(Arizona Republic)