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NBA owners must walk a fine line between keeping tabs on their organization without interfering too much with the basketball operations. The Phoenix Suns recently fired general manager Ryan McDonough and now it looks like Robert Sarver — the team's owner — was interfering in basketball operations in recent years, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Sarver has earned a long reputation for aggressively involving himself in basketball decisions, but it's become harder for coaches and front office staff to manage in the past two years after the Suns became Sarver's primary business interest.
Suns coaches became accustomed to regular beratings and demands of strategy and lineup changes, league sources said. Rival executives could sometimes hear Sarver yelling in the background on negotiation calls with the Suns' front office. Agents tell stories of private conversations occurring with Sarver without the front office's knowledge.
That's a really bad look for the organization. Involvement from owners isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if Wojnarowski's reports are true, this surpasses normal involvement on Sarver's part.
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Executives and coaches want an ownership group who empowers them to do what's best for the team. After all, they are the “basketball guys,” and they should have the best insight as to how to help the team succeed on the court. This situation is much more than typical involvement from an owner.
It sounds more like the owner is undermining his employees and creating a tough environment for any of his executives or coaches to succeed.
