A Black basketball operations staffer told ESPN he has heard Sarver say the N-word multiple times. Sarver once used the N-word when trying to explain to a staffer why he preferred hiring Lindsey Hunter over Dan Majerle as head coach in 2013, according to a high-level executive who heard the remark. Hunter was a first-year Suns player development coordinator while Majerle was in his fifth year as a Suns associate head coach. “These [N-words] need a [N-word],” Sarver told the staffer of his largely Black team, according to the executive.