The Phoenix Suns are reeling following the saga that led to owner Robert Sarver selling the team, and the somber mood was evident as the Suns players and staff spoke about it during their media day on Monday.
“I was in disbelief,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “When you see the bullet points and then when you go through it, um, you start to think about how these things impact the people.”
“That word, I don’t like it, never have. Especially when I was younger and I learned what that word meant. I learned how demeaning it was toward humanity, not just black folks,” Williams said. “And when I saw the report, I was not happy about it, quite frankly, disgusted. It’s not a word you repeat anytime. And when you read the report, you read the bullet points and you see it over and over again in that way, it bothers you.”
“I would say just a state of shock,” general manager James Jones said. “You don’t want that around the organization. You don’t want that to be the issue.”
“It was tough, just like anybody, reading all the different things,” Suns point guard Chris Paul said. “It was more so also the things that people have to endure in the workplace.”
Suns superstar Devin Booker, who is the longest tenured Suns player spoke about the situation. Booker is set to enter his eighty season.
“That’s tough for me because that’s not the Robert Sarver that I know, it’s not the Robert that welcomed me to Phoenix with open arms,” Booker said. “But at the same time, I’m not insensitive to everybody that’s involved in the situation. I understand everybody’s personal experience with other people are always going to be different.”
