I think this is probably the right take -- that Sam was getting more credit than others felt he deserved, and because of that attention maybe was not treating everyone with the respect they felt they deserved -- but this struck me as odd: "So, Ilya .... decided to take him out. [T]hey gave us some EA reasoning about how "scared" they were about what Sam was pursuing..."

Did they? I never heard any "EA" reasoning, or any reasoning at all from the board beyond their statement that he was insufficiently candid.