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Suns managing general partner Robert Sarver understood Welts’s reasons for relocation and placed calls to the Maloof brothers, owners of the Sacramento Kings, as well as Lacob and Guber. Lacob returned the call shortly after the team parted ways with president Robert Rowell. “I’m still shaking my head, to tell you the truth,’’ Welts said. “I had expected to take some time off and it didn’t quite work out that way. “It was really a fortuitous opportunity, and for me it was the perfect intersection of what I was hoping to do. I was hoping to be back in the NBA or at least in sports. It was a very lucky chain of events for me.’’ Boston Globe

Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Robert Sarver, Robert Rowell, Rick Welts 

Amar'e Stoudemire believes he knows where to place the blame for the NBA's aggressive stance against the players' union: the owner of his former team, the Phoenix Suns. "[Robert] Sarver, for sure," Stoudemire said. "He's probably the main guy that's pushing for this lockout." NBA commissioner David Stern, however, told Newsday that Stoudemire's accusation is "contrary to every fact." Newsday

New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Amare Stoudemire, David Stern, Lockout, Robert Sarver 

It was with that image in mind the other day that I called Larry Katz, a Phoenix-based lawyer the players’ union brought on in the spring to file its complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. I was pushing Katz for an update on the NLRB case — and getting nowhere — when he mentioned as an aside that he plays in an adult men’s basketball league with Robert Sarver. Wait. What? The Robert Sarver? The guy who owns the Phoenix Suns and has become a bit of a polarizing figure in these labor talks? Yup, that guy. And they’re on the same team! Katz actually invited Sarver to join his team, which plays at the Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale. And Sarver isn’t the only Suns’ employee on Katz’ team: Jim Pitman, the Suns’ executive vice president for finance and administration, is also on the team. SI.com

Phoenix Suns, Robert Sarver 

So what is Sarver like on the court? Katz compares him to Jared Dudley, in that Sarver is a tough jack-of-all-trades type who isn’t necessarily elite at any one part of the game. He works hard on defense, Katz says, and he can drain a three if he’s open. Pitman, the Suns’ executive vice president, is apparently outstanding — the team’s best shooter, Katz said. What’s the point of all this? Nothing, really. Just a “you couldn’t make this up” footnote to the Great Lockout of 2011. SI.com

Phoenix Suns, Jared Dudley, Robert Sarver 

Paul Coro: "Sarver on reports of his influence on labor talks: "I can say eventually when it's over the facts of my involvement will come out and I look forward to that happening ... Don't believe everything you read." Twitter

Phoenix Suns, CBA, David Stern, Lockout, Billy Hunter, Robert Sarver, NBPA 

The Phoenix Suns are turning to former Henkel Consumer Goods CEO Brad Casper to run its business operations. Suns owner Robert Sarver will hire Casper as the team’s new team president, according to the Sports Business Daily and Sports Business Journal. Casper replaces Rick Welts, who resigned from the Suns in early September and recently was hired as Golden State Warriors President & COO. Business News

Phoenix Suns, Robert Sarver, Rick Welts, Brad Casper 

The latest Sarver bash from a national perspective came on a local airwave. Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski, a lockout reporting beast like cbssports.com's Ken Berger, had the following comment about Sarver on "Chuck and Vince Live" on KDUS-AM (1060) this morning. Read it here or hear it here: "I think Sarver's been the most difficult. He has been really the last couple years in this. I quoted an owner, an ownership source, the other day in a story that he talks so much and says so many outlandish things in these meetings, people tune him out. You know him in Phoenix. He can erode his credibility by just opening his mouth very often. While he is the hardest line of the hard-liners, he is not going to dictate where this goes. He led the charge on wanting the hard cap, on wanting to get rid of the mid-level exception, but at the end of the day, he is not a powerful voice in that room. He's one of the last owners in. He's probably one of the least wealthy owners. And he's probably one of the owners who really have to honest look at whether he should really own an NBA team. Does he have the wealth to really do it and do it right . . . I do think guys like Sarver are willing to lose the whole season." Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, CBA, David Stern, Lockout, Billy Hunter, Robert Sarver, NBPA 

Once again, Phoenix Suns owners Robert Sarver was the most vocal proponent of the owner’s case, and he befuddled players by insisting that his wife had asked him to bring back the middle level exception in a designer bag. He’s been a strong advocate for a hard salary cap, and a source said that Sarver told the players in the room that he hadn’t been able to get the return on buying the Suns that he had hoped. Yahoo! Sports

Phoenix Suns, CBA, Salary Cap, David Stern, Lockout, Billy Hunter, Robert Sarver, NBPA 

Sam Amico: Just talked to NBA owner I spoke w/overnight. In effort to hush rumors, says it's OK for me to confirm he's NOT Dan Gilbert or Robert Sarver Twitter

CBA, Dan Gilbert, Lockout, Robert Sarver, NBPA, Owners 

Chris Broussard: Surprisingly, several sources insist Suns owner Rob Sarver is a dove, though he's been heavily portrayed everywhere as a hawk.. Twitter

Phoenix Suns, CBA, Lockout, Robert Sarver 

There’s been much ado made about the fact that Steve Nash recommended a vitriolic anti-Sarver Twitter rant by ESPN’s Bill Simmons that included this tweet after an ESPN report cited Sarver and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert as having “expressed their dissatisfaction” that “owners were seriously considering coming off of their demand for a salary freeze and would allow players’ future earnings to be tied into the league’s revenue growth.” When later asked on Twitter if we can suppose his days of a Sun are over in light of that recommendation, Nash tweeted, “Nah. I’m a SUN but NBAPA 1st.” Valley of the Suns

Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash, Lockout, Robert Sarver 

To the technologically unhip, here are the consequences: Nash seems to be championing the criticism of his boss. That can't help their working relationship, and you wonder if this is Nash's way of asking out, of joining the long procession of employees who've left the organization in recent years. "I would absolutely confirm on a scale of 1-10, he's not an easy guy every day to work for," outgoing Suns President and CEO Rick Welts said. "But I'll tell you, the guy I worked for before him, David Stern, is off the charts when it comes to being hard to work for. Robert is a piece of cake. He's got a wonderful heart. He's got this thing about wanting to win that every fan should appreciate." Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Robert Sarver, Rick Welts 

Also, a report on ESPN.com claimed that a hard-line stance by Cleveland's Dan Gilbert and Phoenix's Robert Sarver, during Tuesday's session, derailed what could have been significant progress. Citing unnamed sources, the story alleged that New York's James Dolan and the Lakers' Jerry Buss were "visibly annoyed" by the two newer owners. Stern didn't even wait to be asked about that allegation. "It is so wrong and incorrect and fictional," he said, "that I think I can understand why they would only attribute it to sources and that nobody would be willing to stand behind it." NBA.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, CBA, Dan Gilbert, Lockout, Robert Sarver 

Bill Simmons, aka ESPN's The Sports Guy, isn't happy that he isn't going to get basketball in a month or so. He isn't happy that the players and the owners are using tactics that he believes will ultimately fail. So he went on a rant on Twitter blasting everyone that'll hold up an NBA season from happening. One of his targets was Suns owner Robert Sarver. Simmons is no fan of Sarver for penny-pinching a title-contending team. Simmons is even less of a fan of Sarver's willingness to blow up the current CBA in favor of something that would justify all his previous basketball/financial-related decisions. So there went Simmons, burning up on Sarver again. 2 Sarver overpaid for team, spent last few years slicing $$$$ and turned Suns fans against him. Not he wants to blow up the system? Go away. This should probably mean nothing, because Simmons ripping Sarver is like Teller never speaking to Penn. It comes naturally. SB Nation

Phoenix Suns, CBA, Lockout, Robert Sarver, NBPA 

But when the owners left the players to meet among themselves for around three hours, Cleveland's Dan Gilbert and Phoenix's Robert Sarver expressed their dissatisfaction with many of the points, sources said. The sources said that the Knicks' James Dolan and the Lakers' Jerry Buss were visibly annoyed by the hardline demands of Gilbert and Sarver. ESPN.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, CBA, Dan Gilbert, James Dolan, Jerry Buss, Lockout, Robert Sarver, NBPA 

Suns President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Welts came to work Friday to tell team employees, many of whom he has worked alongside for nine years, that he is leaving them. Already mired in a league lockout, Suns employees did not need this news about their beloved boss but they helped to ease Welts' anxiousness about the move. As Welts revealed plans to leave by Sept. 15, he was joined in Managing Partner Robert Sarver's office by Sarver, Vice Chairman Sam Garvin, President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby - and good cheer. Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Robert Sarver, Rick Welts 

He wanted to shoot down any notion that he was being pushed out the door by the Suns, praising the support he has received from team owner Robert Sarver. "I think amicable is probably an understatement," Welts said of his leaving the franchise. He said both he and Sarver were concerned that some might have a misperception that, because of the timing, the Suns wanted him to leave. "Nothing could be further from the truth," Welts said. "From the time I made my announcement in May, the Suns, and Robert in particular, have been unbelievably supportive." He said that he and Sarver had just spoke again by telephone to thank each other. ESPN.com

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Robert Sarver, Rick Welts 

Sarver said in a news release that the business side of the organization will report to general counsel Jason Rowley as the team searches for a new president. Sarver thanked Welts for "his tireless work on behalf of the Suns." Lon Babby remains the Suns' president of basketball operations. ESPN.com

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Robert Sarver, Rick Welts 

The Suns are promoting General Counsel Jason Rowley to executive vice president to assume Welts' duties on an interim basis. A national search of candidates, including Rowley, will be conducted to fill the spot. Rowley joined the Suns in 2008 and represented Sarver's purchase of the Suns in 2004. "He's got a breadth of knowledge of business," Babby said of Rowley. "He's a problem solver and that's a big asset for someone in that position." Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Robert Sarver, Rick Welts, Jason Rowley 

Today's NBA is filled with owners who paid through the nose for their teams, and have years of red ink in front of them before they ever see a return on their investment. The list includes Joe Lacob and Peter Guber (Golden State, purchased in 2010 for $450 million), Robert Sarver (Phoenix, 2005, $400 million), Dan Gilbert (Cleveland, 2005, $375 million), Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagluica (Boston, 2002, $360 million), Ted Leonsis (Washington, 2010, $300 million -- an estimated price that does not include another $250 million in debt on Verizon Center and the Wizards that Leonsis also has to assume) and Mikhail Prokhorov (New Jersey, 2009, $200 million for 80 percent of the team and 45 percent of the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn in which the Nets will play beginning in 2013). NBA.com

Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, New Jersey Nets, Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards, Dan Gilbert, Mikhail Prokhorov, Wyc Grousbeck, Robert Sarver, Joe Lacob, Ted Leonsis, Owners, Peter Guber