Phoenix Suns owner’s wife sent messages to former staffers amid investigation

Three Former Phoenix Suns staffers said they received messages from owner Robert Sarver’s wife in recent days as the NBA investigates claims made in a scathing report published by ESPN last week describing racism and misogyny within the organization. 

At least one of the staffers said they viewed the messages from Penny Sarver as a threat. Sarver confirmed that she sent the messages but denied any attempt at intimidation. 

The former employees told ESPN on Tuesday that two of the messages from Penny Sarver came from an Instagram account with the @pennsar username and that one was a text message from her phone. 

“I know a lot of bridges were burned between you and Robert and you are very bitter. I want to remind you that real lives are at stake here,” Penny Sarver reportedly wrote to one staffer.  

“Please put your hatred aside and realize the hurt you are causing by spreading lies and fabrications. Is your time in the spotlight that important? If something happens to one of my children, I will hold you and Earl Watson personally responsible. Think about your own child for a second and imagine the tables turned,” the message continued, according to ESPN. 

Watson was previously the head coach of the Suns and reportedly once told Robert Sarver that “you can’t say that” after the owner allegedly used a racial slur repeatedly in the locker room. 

Among the other allegations made against Robert Sarver are that he showed employees a picture of his wife in a bikini and that he talked about her performing oral sex on him. 

In other messages to former staffers, Penny Sarver expressed her anger about them coming forward with their stories, accusing one of them of lying in order to “destroy my husband,” according to ESPN. 

“I am so terribly saddened that you would say such untrue things about my husband. Your interpretation of what happened is so far from the truth. You are crushing my families lives,” she reportedly said in one message. 

“I don’t know how to interpret it other than as a threat,” one former employee told ESPN. 

ESPN interviewed 70 current and former employees of the Suns for its investigation, which depicted a “toxic and sometimes hostile workplace” during Robert Sarver’s 17-year tenure as owner. 

In a statement to ESPN, Penny Sarver confirmed that she sent the messages to the three employees.

“Over the weekend, I decided on my own to reach out to a few people to try to set the record straight and to share how disappointed and hurt I am by the lies that are circulating about my husband and the Suns organization,” she said.

“Any suggestion that I tried to ‘intimidate’ anyone is as silly as it is wrong and outrageous,” she added.