Hawks President of Baskeball Operations & GM Danny Ferry has "no immediate plans to resign following racist comments he claims to have read during a conference call regarding" potential free agent F Luol Deng in June, according to Chris Vivlamore of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Hawks co-Owner Michael Gearon Jr. wrote a letter to Managing Partner Bruce Levenson "calling for him to ask for Ferry’s resignation or fire him for cause if he refused several days after the conference call with ownership and management." As the Hawks search for a buyer for Levenson’s shares of the team, it is "unclear how the organization will function with a co-owner that has called for the termination" of its GM (AJC.com, 9/9). Hawks CEO Steve Koonin yesterday told Atlanta-based WZGC-FM that he "made the decision to discipline Ferry but allowed him to keep his job." Despite Gearon's "desire to remove Ferry, Koonin is standing by him." Koonin said of Gearon's recommendation, "I certainly understand that emotion. I know people who have said that to me. But if we sentence people based on what everybody wanted, we wouldn't have a justice system" (AP, 9/9). Deng, in a statement responding to the derogatory note in the Hawks scouting report, said, "I'm proud to say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just 'a little.' For my entire life, my identity has been a source of pride and strength" (ESPN.com, 9/9).
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: Koonin yesterday appeared on Atlanta-based WZGC-FM's "Rick & Jamie" show to discuss the Hawks' situation. Koonin the punishment given to Ferry "far exceeded" the recommendation from a local law frim and the team is keeping the punishment private because "some people will think it was far too harsh and some people will think it wasn't harsh enough." Koonin also noted that on Sunday he sent an apologetic e-mail to fans with season tickets, sponsors and ambassadors. In the e-mail he wrote he "could not even fathom something like this could happen." Koonin said, “There’s a lot of really smart people trying to help me. There are a lot of advisors and there are a lot of PR people, but I just believe you have to deal from the heart. So I added on the note, ‘Please feel free to email me,’ and put my email address and I am in the hundreds of email received. ... I’m saying this because the past two nights I’ve stayed up virtually all night and I wrote back every single one." Koonin described himself as “a marketing guy,” and that the first thing the ownership group did in terms of marketing was target audience research. He said results showed that the Hawks target audience is “African-Americans, Hispanics, and millennials.” Koonin: "I could argue that our marketing has been so effective that we attracted a large, diverse audience." He added of the process for bringing on a new Hawks majority owner, "We saw what happened when somebody didn’t understand the marketplace. ... The NBA will run the process. They are experts at doing that. We will partner with them. ... Hopefully we emerge stronger, better, with ownership that committed to what this town deserves" (“Rick & Jamie,” WZGC-FM, 9/9).
TIME FOR SOMEONE NEW? Basketball HOFer Magic Johnson tweeted that Ferry should "step down." Johnson: "The city of Atlanta and the Hawks fans deserve and should demand better from the Hawks leadership" (L.A. TIMES, 9/10). In Atlanta, Mark Bradley wrote of Ferry, "I cannot see how he stays" (AJC.com, 9/9). CBS Sports Network's Jim Rome said of Ferry, "I'm having a hard time understanding ... how he still has a job" ("Rome," CBSSN, 9/9). YAHOO SPORTS' Kelly Dwyer wrote under the header, "Danny Ferry Probably Isn't Long For His Job With The Atlanta Hawks." Dwyer: "This is an unacceptable brand of leadership" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/9). Also in Atlanta, Jeff Schultz writes, "Everybody needs to go. Again." Schultz: Ferry needs to go. He's damaged goods" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 9/10). The L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke tweeted, "Just a guess, but with Danny Ferry allowed to keep his job, the Hawks have decided they will never again pursue any free agents, ever" (TWITTER.com, 9/9). ESPN's J.A. Adande said it is "really inexplicable" that Ferry is still the GM. Adande: "If Bruce Levenson felt what he said was bad enough to warrant him forcing himself to sell his share of the team, what Danny Ferry said was worse and yet he's still employed." It "makes you think that the NBA probably forced Levenson or strongly encouraged Levenson to sell and I think they're active behind the scenes as well." Adande: "You can't imagine a new owner keeping a general manager who will be bringing the baggage that Danny Ferry would be bringing" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 9/9). FS1's Bill Reiter said "talking to people around the NBA, ... most people believe [Ferry] is no a racist." However, if Ferry does not survive with the Hawks, "his future as a general manager anywhere will be very unlikely" ("Fox Sports Live," FS1, 9/9).
JUST BUSINESS? ESPN basketball analyst Len Elmore said of Levenson's e-mail notes, “I didn’t see them as racist per se, though he certainly was putting differing values on white and black clientele. But if he’s got some numbers to support that, maybe we take a breath and say, ‘Well, he’s trying to make his business work.’” In N.Y., Harvey Araton writes, "It is one thing, and not a wrong thing, to make the case for more white fans to show up and fill your arena. It is another thing, a shameful thing, to say or suggest that in the process of expanding the tent, you would prefer that many already inside it just get the heck out" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/10). ESPN.com's Jason Whitlock wrote under the header, "Levenson Is Anything But Racist." Levenson is a "victim of toxic, internal-ownership dysfunction within the Hawks organization." His e-mail "sounded very much like conversations I led with my radio staff in Kansas City years ago when I was trying to make my show more inclusive of white listeners and callers." The "path to inclusion and diversity is not paved with precise, pretty words." Levenson's e-mail "paints him as a man trying to be inclusive while trying to expand his business" (ESPN.com, 9/8). In DC, Jonathan Capehart asked, "What’s the real reason Bruce Levenson is selling his stake in the Atlanta Hawks basketball team?" Capehart: "Is he a latter-day Donald Sterling who should be drummed out of the National Basketball Association? Absolutely not." While Levenson "could have put the whole 'whites scared off by blacks' thing a little more delicately, I knew what he was getting at." Capehart: "What I don’t get is why Levenson felt compelled to sell the team because he pointed that out" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 9/9). In Miami, Greg Cote asks, "What if his concerns are accurate? What if what he said is true? That to me would be far more damning of white folks in Atlanta than it would be of Levenson for simply trying to deal with the uncomfortable reality he believes is hurting his business." Cote: "If not attracting enough white fans is quantifiably hurting business and the franchise, would it make a little bit of practical sense to seek out a more diverse mix of cheerleaders and music? Or is that racist to even ask the question?" (MIAMI HERALD, 9/10).
NEW STANDARD: USA TODAY's Brent Schrotenboer notes Bobby Samini, an attorney for former Clippers Owner Donald Sterling, "predicts even more casualties will result from the new racial speech standard set by the NBA against his client." Samini: "There's not a single owner in the league who doesn't have an e-mail, a conversation, a conference call comment, that by this standard that's been established by (NBA Commissioner) Adam Silver, that wouldn't completely taint them." Samini said that private investigators hired by Sterling are "not finished with their mission." Samini: "They're still very active" (USA TODAY, 9/10). USA TODAY's Josh Peter writes under the header, "NBA Called Out For Increasing Racial Tensions." Rev. Markel Hutchins, a civil rights leader in Atlanta who has secured a meeting with the Hawks, "singled out NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as a potential agent of change but also 'currently the biggest enemy.'" Hutchins: "To have racially charged incidents like the ones with Donald Sterling and with Bruce Levenson, and for the NBA to say our discipline is, 'You sell your team,' and you make hundreds of millions of dollars in the process, that's not progress. That's a reward for bigotry and racial insensitivity" (USA TODAY, 9/10). In N.Y., Richard Fausset writes as the "hubbub over Mr. Levenson’s email demonstrates, sports, like religion, can divide people as well as unite them." And in a place where "racial unease coexists with a more easygoing brand of multiculturalism, Mr. Levenson’s remarks have become only the latest flap in which sports have become charged touchstones for larger questions about Atlanta’s identity" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/10).
NO MOVING SIGN: In Seattle, Geoff Baker cites a source as saying the "fragmented ownership structure that led to the sale" of the Hawks will also be what "keeps the NBA team from leaving town." The Hawks are comprised of at least a half-dozen other owners and that "makes it unlikely" Seattle hedge fund manager Chris Hansen would even get a "serious crack at the team" (SEATTLE TIMES, 9/10).
