How "Despicable Me" can describe the Suns

Phoenix Suns majority owner Robert Sarver yells at the officials after a foul was called against the Suns during an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Hornets Friday, March 25, 2011, in Phoenix. The Hornets defeated the Suns 106-100. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

As the Phoenix Suns have sunk to rock bottom not only have the large crowds of fans stopped coming to games, but the Suns can be labeled both an NBA laughing stock as well as personal punching bag of former player Charles Barkley.

According to a report by azcentral.com, Barkley continually criticized the Suns throughout the highlight replay during a TNT broadcast. "I just feel bad because the reason I live in Phoenix: they've got the best fans in the world and they deserve better. They deserve better than they're getting right now," Barkley said.

The Suns' sad collapse can be described as a real-life "Despicable Me" and is such a dysfunctional mess that fans in the valley of the sun have adopted the local pro football franchise as their darlings.

Team owner Robert Sarver is Felonius Gru who has lost his mojo as a super villain. Instead, Sarver is just a villain for forcing this product down the throats of fans and collecting revenue in the process. It is despicable because rather than treating Suns fans with a manageable dosage of the post-Steve Nash era, it has been like a cold turkey detox with zero all stars, zero playoff appearances and zero hope.

Sarver was the target of Suns fans vitriol, but he found a way to distract fans by introducing his minions Lon Babby and Lance Blanks in 2010 with front office positions. Babby, a former agent, was portrayed as a savvy businessman who would be able to negotiate smart deals for the talent brought in by general manager Blanks.

That regime dangled Nash in front of fans whilst sneaking Hedo Turkoglu, Hakim Warrick and Josh Childress through the back door with regrettable contracts, and Michael Beasley followed shortly after Nash's departure. How did it look then? Awful.

And it got worse in 2012-13 as Alvin Gentry (who started 13-28 that season), head coach at the time, was dismissed for assistant Lindsey Hunter who finished with a 12-29 record. This disaster was the worst season in Suns franchise history since 1968-69. Sarver had his scapegoat in place though, as Blanks was fired in April 2013.

Enter the next minion to be general manager, Ryan McDonough, who was supposed to be the young hot shot who learned under Boston's Danny Ainge. The verdict on McDonough is still not in for some, but his history started with the hiring of Jeff Hornacek. After one season, it looked like a great move as the Suns went 48-34 and just missed the playoffs. The reality was this team overachieved and caught the league by surprise.

McDonough built around Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris. This core would have a supporting cast of P.J. Tucker and Isaiah Thomas among others. When things were beginning to crack, McDonough made changes as Dragic, Thomas and two other players were traded in separate deals to bring in Brandon Knight, an injured Danny Granger (who never played a game) and Marcus Thornton.

In 2015, McDonough signed a 33-year-old Tyson Chandler to be a veteran leader for $52 million over four years, and Brandon Knight was signed to a bloated, five-year $70 million contract. Combine that with the inconsequential acquisitions of Mirza Teletovic and Jon Leuer to leave Suns fans scratching their heads like they just got lice.

Perhaps the positives were Suns draft picks Archie Goodwin and Devin Booker as these young men are starting to grow into solid, likable talent. Even T.J. Warren was coming into his own until suffering a season-ending foot injury.

As Suns fans have witnessed, these roster moves became the downfall of Hornacek and promotion of assistant Earl Watson. Now Sarver has three of his minions as yes-men instead of two, and all three could very well take the blame by paying for it with their jobs if Gru (a.k.a. Sarver) continues to use the revolving door of clones to replace them.

The fans have been broken down into two groups when it comes to Sarver: the people who support and hope the Suns can get back to their winning ways, yet realize right now the team is in turmoil. Then there are the people who dislike Sarver so much they have moved on from giving their money and attention to the product he puts on the court.

The first represents the Dr. Nefario character. He wants to believe in Gru, but through the failures he struggles in doing so. The others are the Bank of Evil (excuse the evil part) since they have completely abandoned any trust in the competence of Gru and his minions.

What all Suns fans want is to be relevant, to have a national spotlight and to win championships. Those things would make even the Sarver haters change their stance on him as the owner if he can deliver. That means they would end up as Margo, Edith and Agnes -- Gru's biggest fans.

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