In blasting Phoenix Suns’ Mat Ishbia as possibly the worst owner in NBA history, Stephen A. Smith appears to have ignored who preceded him.
Tuesday morning on ESPN’s First Take, Smith reacted to Phoenix firing Mike Budenholzer just one season into his five-year contract with the Suns. And he did so by placing two percent of the blame on Kevin Durant, while reserving the rest for Ishbia.
“Mat Ishbia needs to understand that right now you are on the verge of being recognized as the worst owner in the history of basketball. That’s saying a lot. Donald Sterling once owned an NBA franchise.” – Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/ulZQa9Zv8e
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 15, 2025
“Mat Ishbia needs to understand that right now you are on the verge of being recognized as the worst owner in the history of basketball,” Smith claimed. “That’s saying a lot. Donald Sterling once owned an NBA franchise. James Dolan, until he recently hired Leon Rose, was on that trajectory. That’s the trajectory that you are on right now. Being recognized as arguably the worst owner in the history of basketball.”
Smith defended his statement by noting Ishbia purchased a team that was just one season removed from going to the NBA Finals and has proceeded to fire three head coaches in three years. Under Ishbia, the Suns have gotten rid of draft picks like they’re singles at a strip club, and they’re fresh off missing the playoffs despite having the highest payroll in the NBA.
All of Smith’s criticisms of Ishbia are fair. But worst owner in NBA history? Placing Ishbia on that trajectory just three years into his tenure with the Suns seems like a stretch. Further, it seemingly downplays the tenure of Ishbia’s predecessor, Robert Sarver.
In 2022, Sarver was fined $10 million dollars and suspended a full year following an investigation into allegations that he repeatedly used racist and misogynistic language as owner of the Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. The investigation determined Sarver used the N-word in public on at least five occasions and made “many sex-related comments in the workplace.”
Following the investigation, many NBA players, including LeBron James, Chris Paul and Draymond Green deemed the punishment to be too lenient. And after PayPal threatened to end its partnership with the Suns over Sarver’s actions, he decided to sell the team, with Ishbia ultimately winning the bid.
Ishbia’s ownership tenure is off to a bad start. But it’s wild to think he should be considered worse than Sterling or Sarver at this point because he’s cycling through head coaches at a George Steinbrenner-type pace. And being bold enough to place Ishbia on that trajectory seemingly whitewashes the ownership tenures of Sterling and Sarver.
