Wachtell Lipton, the New York-based firm conducting the independent investigation into Suns owner Robert Sarver, has now interviewed more than 300 people as part of that probe, reports Baxter Holmes of ESPN.
One key figure still hasn’t been interviewed by the lawyers leading the investigation: Sarver himself. That’s expected to happen soon, according to Holmes, who says investigators are preparing to talk to the Suns’ owner.
Back in November, Holmes published a bombshell report in which a number of current and former Suns employees described a toxic workplace culture under Sarver, who was accused of racism and misogyny. The NBA quickly announced that it was launching an independent investigation into those accusations.
According to today’s report from Holmes, employees who have been interviewed by Wachtell Lipton have “confirmed a range of published allegations while introducing others.” Some of the interviewees have spoken to investigators multiple times, and some have provided the law firm with emails supporting their claims, Holmes writes.
It remains unclear when the investigation will conclude. According to Holmes, the lawyers involved have consistently told current and former employees that they’re in the “fact-finding” stage.
Phoenix’s players and coaches certainly haven’t let the ongoing investigation distract them on the court. The Suns’ 50-12 record this season gives them a 7.5-game cushion on the NBA’s second-best team (Golden State, at 43-20).
1990 Suns = 2021 Hawks (more or less).. thoughts?…
Those Suns regressed in 91 especially after making a consolidation trade for Xavier McDaniel who was a young bull at the time. That trade didn’t work but a few yrs later another similar trade for Barkley (rich man’s Xavier McDaniel) worked extremely well. Those Suns never won a title tho. I strongly feel like the current Hawks should learn from the success/failure of those early 90s Suns. Specifically that when you use your surplus of assets to go after a big fish on the trade market, make it a Barkley size fish (Zion/LeBron) & not a X-Man size fish (CJ McCollum/DWhite). The fact that the Hawks were quiet at the trade deadline this season gives me hope that they share this view
What is the correlation exactly? Or you’re just suggesting they have similar trajectories based on their current acquisition potential?
The teams were very similar, the Suns young pg Kevin Johnson was the best player on the team much like Trae Young, they had talented sharpshooters on the wing in Hornacek/Majerle/EJohnson who were similar to Bogdanovic/Huerter/Hunter. Also Cam Reddish’s ECF gm6 vs Mil was very reminiscent of Hornacek’s gm6 vs Por in the WCF in 90. Tom Chambers game is very similar to John Collins. Capela’s role with the Hawks is very similar to Mark West with those Suns. Kurt Rambis & Gallinari definitely have differences in their game but they have similarities as well & both were vets that came to their respective teams to add experience as backup 4s. Both teams were 5seeds, both teams upset the 1seed in the 2nd round, both good shooting teams that had considerably more depth than other teams. KJ & Trae are probably the most glaring similarity but I see so many bw those 2 teams
I 100% agree w/ Sankra on this one
Posted a couple days ago I think the big fish targets should be AD, Simmons, Zion, or Jaylen Brown if any of them even become slightly available
ATL has all the tools in the chest to GO Really Big.(expirings, picks, young players, depth, Collins shooters…they have it all to match in any scenario)
I too think it would be unwise to hedge the thing with a smaller trade like JGrant/Smart/Wood/Poeltl etc…
They will be one of the more interesting teams to watch in the offseason.
** Don’t like the Beal/Dame fits so Id stay away completely
Ayeeee somebody feels me! I would LOVE Zion & he’d definitely be my #1 target. A hometown kid like Jaylen or Ant would be great too. If it’s impossible to get 1 of those top shelf guys I’d rather just stay the course & build around Trae/John/Dre/Onyeka. As great as Clint has been for us & as important as he currently is to the team, I think his name could be added to the list of tradeable assets as soon as next season. I’m personally a huge fan of the young big from Fresno St, Orlando Robinson. If he’s available when the Hawks pick in this upcoming draft I wouldn’t be mad at taking him & making Clint available, especially if Onyeka plays well this postseason
Also KJ’s injury vs Por in the WCF is what doomed the 90 Suns the same way Trae’s injury doomed the 21 Hawks in the ECF vs Mil
XM was ideal with the types he played with, Jack Sickma and Tom Chambers. Funny I was just commenting on tall skinny white BB players… Mcdaniels fit right in as a complement.
Seattle fans tended to ovverrate him as a demigod and so he had a hard time living up to that rep.
So it was weird when SEA traded him for so little, then PHO did the same shortly after.
IDK what he did wrong except not live up to the hype… but he was never a shooter/scorer like Sikma or Chambers… Or Barkely.
PHO surely was looking for a physical guy, their missing piece.
ATL in 2023 kind of has to do something… well I often say that but usually GMs do not want to take the risk. But after the rush of getting so much depth, they have declined and are probably not wishing each other the best.
Anyway there is not such a clear missing piece for a consolidation trade.. A problem with a young team… One is always waiting for them to find their place.
I would go for Norman Powell. IDK anymore about Dinwiddie but Hawks need a unifier.
X-Man was what people nowadays would probably call mentally insane lol. He was extremely talented, physical, athletic but he was aggressive to the point that it negatively affected his career. He was 1 of the best forwards in the league with Seattle, to me that was the best version of him. But he was constantly provoking opponents/coaches/refs/teammates & when he got into with Dale Ellis (his own teammate) in a very public brawl he got shipped out to Phoenix. Seemed like a sweet deal for Phoenix at the time I’m sure but he wasn’t nearly as productive in Phoenix for multiple reasons. X wasn’t quite a Barkley/Chambers level scorer but he was good for 20-25/gm when he was in his prime in Seattle. He was def a very good shooter/scorer just not elite. It was his attitude that stopped him from being a star but ofc it was also his attitude/aggression that made him a big time player in the 1st place. His career is one of the more interesting in NBA history imo. The ridiculous number of fights he was in is a major reason for that but just overall he’s a very interesting figure to me… As far as the Hawks the main guy on our team that was disgruntled with a lack of pt or touches was Cam Reddish. He had legit reason to be disgruntled in my opinion but now that he’s gone the team seems much more together & they’ve been playing much better. John Collins also has a legit gripe about not getting enough touches but ofc he just willingly resigned here for like 5 more years so he can’t be too mad. I do wish we’d run more stuff for John but at the end of the day trusting Trae/Bogi/Delon/Lou to make good decisions as lead guards has been working out pretty well the past couple seasons. I wanted us to trade Gallinari for Kyle Anderson at the deadline bc I felt like he’s a much more willing passer than Gallo & more of a unifying presence as you say. I see John as a unifier too tho. He’s sacrificed alot & is already a strong locker room voice even as young as he still is
gotta be at least one guy here capable of this type of basketball discussion..
You lost me a few posts ago. This will likely be my last comment to anything you post… I basically ignore everything you post now. But so you understand, I don’t want my skin color to be a topic when discussing basketball. You seriously need to re-evaluate your world view.
… and it is ironic you ignored the whole race discussion in this article about an investigation about rascist remarks.
would it then be just as ironic or moreso that you ignored the whole basketball discussion on this post on this website where people come to talk about basketball?
Lol you obv don’t ignore what I post. That’s extremely obvious. You reference past things I’ve talked about plus you’re replying to my recent post. I, on the other hand, have never heard of you before lol. From what I can see tho you are not capable of discussing anything pertaining to the basketball related subject that I posted about. Your skin color and especially mine matters in this world. That’s a fact. I’m not sure why you even brought that up except for the fact that you just wanna shift focus away from a basketball subject that is too much for you to take in & intelligently respond to. And maybe that’s just it lol
I wasn’t trying to challenge you, just was curious.
Bro I highly appreciate the question fr. It was definitely legitimate and I hope I explained it well enough for you to understand my thought process. I wouldn’t even mind if you did challenge or disagree tho. Or agree lol. I just wish more guys was like you & willing to take some type of part in this type of discussion, relating the current state of the league/game to it’s history
Why would you start with 300 non key figures?
To draw out the billing. They’re lawyers and the client has deep pockets and probably little enthusiasm for a punitive follow-through, esp with Suns hiring James Jones and promptly being a top team.