The Phoenix Suns appear to be a mess, to the point where the NBA is reportedly “concerned” about the organization as a whole. While the Suns aren’t the only team deploying a less than spectacular basketball team during the 2018-19 season, stories continue to emerge that don’t paint the franchise in the best light.
On Monday, another batch emerged from Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN and, in short, his insight into Phoenix’s front office is more than worth a read in totality. From stories about owner Robert Sarver “dressing down” a future Hall of Fame player in the locker after a game in 2012 to the weirdness of the present-day front office, this saga has it all.
Still, one particular anecdote from that story came to light that is legitimate jaw-dropping and it involves Sarver and live animals.
Four years after naming McDonough general manager, Sarver acquired some live goats from a Diana Taurasi event at Talking Stick Resort Arena and planted them upstairs in McDonough’s office. The stunt was both a practical joke and an inspirational message — the Suns should find a GOAT of their own, one who dominates like Taurasi. The goats, unaware of their metaphorical connotation, proceeded to defecate all over McDonough’s office.
Yes, you are reading that correctly. Sarver not only “acquired some live goats” from an event but he found it necessary to put them in a subordinate’s office, apparently with a subliminal message of sorts. It is hilarious enough that he would see that as inspirational for a general manager (Ryan McDonough, in this case) that would already be trying to acquire the best talent but the fact that the stunt backfired so gloriously is almost too perfect.
Honestly, this isn’t the most damaging tidbit from the story, as the fallout is relatively harmless in the form of custodial clean-up after the fact. Still, it is hard to ignore the fact that this kind of lunacy seemingly happens on a regular basis in Phoenix and the Robert Sarver era isn’t going all that well. Perhaps the NBA is right to worry about the franchise.
