Atlanta Hawks on the market after racially-charged controversies

The team does not have a buyer yet, but will officially go on the market next week. The investment banking firm Goldman Sachs and Inner Circle Sports has been retained to gather and vet prospective buyers.

Former NBA players Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber, among others, have both expressed interest in owning the Hawks.

Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed dropped some odd hints while speaking to reporters about the future of the Atlanta Hawks following racially-charged comments that resulted in owner Bruce Levenson’s departure and president Danny Ferry’s leave of absence. Most notably, he suggested that it’s “highly unlikely” the Hawks will move, as if that was ever really a question.

The Hawks are tied to Phillips Arena through a lease that doesn’t expire until 2028. Even if they wanted to break that -- and they can by 2018 -- the cost would be very expensive. They need to pay off the arena’s bonds in their entirety, and there’s a $75 million fee attached on top of that. The cherry on the sundae: there’s yet another NBA relocation fee. So, moving is very expensive and likely a big headache.

Jason: So, the group selling the team has had as many as eight members. Should we match that number?

Spencer: Yes. At least.

Anthony made it clear that players have nothing against the city, but that the recent scandal involving Ferry and team owner Bruce Levenson won’t sit well with potential free agents.

Anthony also voiced his support for commissioner Adam Silver, saying he supports him “100 percent.”

Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has taken an indefinite leave of absence in the wake of the racially charged controversy surrounding the team. Ferry came under fire for offensive remarks he repeated from a scouting report about Luol Deng on a conference call with the Hawks’ ownership group.

Meanwhile, majority owner Bruce Levenson plans to sell the team after a racially insensitive email he sent to other members of the organization two years ago was discovered during an investigation triggered by Ferry’s comments.

Danny Ferry will take a leave of absence from the Atlanta Hawks following the discovery of racially-charged comments made about perspective free agent Luol Deng during a private meeting with team officials in June, the team announced Friday.

Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said Ferry asked for the leave of absence. Coach Mike Budenholzer will take over the franchise’s basketball operations.

Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry’s story is that he was relaying information off a free agent scouting report when he told team owners that Luol Deng had “some African in him.” That report has now come to light, thanks to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB Channel 2.

Here is the full five-page report, thanks to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The comment in question is on the second page and comes from a former member of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ front office.

“He’s a good guy overall, but he’s not perfect. He’s got some African in him. And I don’t say that in a bad way, other than....”

By now, most of the world has heard about Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry offering a racially-charged description of Luol Deng during a meeting with team officials on the prospective free agent forward. Now, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has uncovered the audio.

The native of Nigeria wrote an op-ed for The Globe and Mail weighing in on the situation.

The article from Ujiri, a former NBA Executive of the Year, comes days after the announcement that Bruce Levenson would sell his shares in the Hawks after the revelation of a business email containing offensive statements concerning race and the team’s fan base.

In November 2002, Bonzi Wells spit on Danny Ferry during a Blazers win over the Spurs. This incident was added to the That’s Bonzi! oeuvre straight away. He was also suspended for one game.

Four years later, as Bonzi starred for the one of the meanest teams in modern history -- the Ron Artest-Bonzi Kings -- Sacramento Bee columnist Marty McNeal wrote a story about Bonzi’s travails. The story has been since lost-to-the-internet due to the Bee’s frequent archive-killing redesigns. But back in the heyday of sports blogging we did things called “blockquotes” and there’s a long excerpt of McNeal’s story that is now of particular interest.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver told USA Today’s Sam Amick that he does not believe that Danny Ferry should be fired for comments he made regarding Luol Deng on a team conference call. While Silver called Ferry’s remarks “clearly inappropriate and unacceptable,” he said the Hawks’ internal discipline is enough given the facts he knows.

“In my view, those comments, taken alone, do not merit his losing his job,” Silver told Amick.

Ferry denied the controversial remarks were his own, stating he was reading a scouting report gathered from numerous sources. The Hawks have since issued an unspecified punishment to Ferry, while Hawks minority owner Bruce Levenson has moved to sell his shares of the franchise.

Hawks CEO Steve Koonin has gone on record stating Ferry will remain general manager of the Hawks until further notice. Koonin was expected to hold a meeting with Atlanta civil rights leaders Wednesday, but postponed the meeting, leading to a sit-in protest.

Rev. Markel Hutchins and other activists say they were turned away from the team’s facilities Wednesday despite Hawks CEO Steve Koonin previously agreeing to meet with them to discuss the recent controversy surrounding departing owner Bruce Levenson, GM Danny Ferry and the franchise.

“We are obviously offended but we’re not so offended that we’re willing to not converse. We still intend to meet. But the meeting must be a meeting with civil rights membership because that’s what they agreed to. Steve told The Associated Press he wanted to meet with civil rights leadership,” Hutchins said.

Here is the full statement Deng released on Tuesday, via the Sun-Sentinel:

On Tuesday, Ferry released a statement maintaining that the words he used to describe Deng were not his own.

Ferry’s explanation does not line up with Gearon’s version from the leaked email.

On the subject of Deng, Ferry said “he has a little African in him, not in a bad way, but he’s a guy who would have a nice store out front, but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.”

Gearon’s letter continues “Ferry completed the racial slur by describing the player (and impliedly, all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat.”

Will Ferry be punished?: Ferry will be punished but the team has kept the details private.

What does this mean for the league?: The first whispers of the scandal spread fear across the NBA as owners worried about whether they had crossed the line in the past, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. Could their ownership be at risk?

If every Bruce Levenson exits the NBA, we’re going to have a whole lot more turnover among the league’s franchise owner ranks.

Whereas the case of Donald Sterling was, well, black and white, Levenson’s situation comes in a couple shades of gray. In an email to GM Danny Ferry and two co-owners, Levenson -- the partner with the largest stake in the Atlanta Hawks -- threw out some undergrad-level business school theories about why white fans didn’t buy season tickets at Philips Arena. While decrying the ignorant mindset of idiot fans who associate a black audience with crime, Levenson nonetheless offers up suggestions to capture that audience. All of the suggestions boil down to making Hawks games less black. (They also happen to be wrong.)

Ferry’s comment raised issue with the Hawks ownership group which prompted an internal investigation. That investigation, according to the report, is what led to the discovery of an email sent by owner Bruce Levenson that will result in him selling his shares of the team. Atlanta co-owner and CEO Steve Koonin said Ferry will face punishment but did not reveal the details of any discipline. He did say the discipline will exceed the recommendation from the law firm Alston and Bird, which conducted the internal investigation.

Ferry has served as the Hawks’ general manager since 2012. He was also the recipient of the email Levenson sent in 2012 that included several racially insensitive comments. The punishment Ferry is facing is not related to this original email, but instead for his failure to edit or omit the comment from a scouting report read during a meeting in June discussing free agency.

What they said: NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement on Sunday to announce the Hawks co-owner will step down prior to the completion of the NBA’s investigation of his email from 2012.

Silver said Levenson self-reported the email in July, but a high-ranking front office official told Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski that isn’t the case (NBA spokesman Mike Bass denied that report). Hawks CEO Steve Koonin released a statement in conjunction with Silver’s, while Levenson released his own statement of apology.

Atlanta Hawks minority owner Bruce Levenson will sell his share of the franchise after the discovery of a racist email he sent in 2012.

Here’s a statement from NBA commissioner Adam Silver.