Robert Sarver's Wife Penny Messaged 3 Former Suns Employees amid NBA Investigation

Three former employees of the Phoenix Suns told ESPN's Baxter Holmes they received messages from Penny Sarver, the wife of team majority partner Robert Sarver, amid an NBA investigation into allegations of a toxic and hostile workplace culture under Sarver. 

The former employees told Holmes "they consider the messages an attempt to intimidate them."

Penny Sarver commented on the messages:

"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. I shared the betrayal that I felt and I touched on some of the pain that we are going through as a family. Any suggestion that I tried to 'intimidate' anyone is as silly as it is wrong and outrageous."

Per that report, two of the messages came from Penny Sarver's Instagram account, and one was a text message. 

In one of the messages, she wrote: "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."

She added in that message: "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."

"I don't know how to interpret it other than as a threat," one of the former employees who received a message said of its contents.

Another message read, in part: "You are such a liar. In your trying to destroy my husband with [your] lies—you have destroyed my family and children."

The NBA is investigating Robert Sarver after Holmes interviewed over 70 current and former Suns employees from Sarver's 17-year stewardship as team governor. Amongst the allegations are that Sarver used the N-word or other racially insensitive language on more than one occasion, along with misogynistic and sexually inappropriate language, and oversaw a toxic workplace culture.

"The level of misogyny and racism is beyond the pale," a team co-owner told Holmes. "It's embarrassing as an owner." 

"There's literally nothing you could tell me about him from a misogynistic or race standpoint that would surprise me," a former team executive added.