Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry might not hold his front office position for much longer. WSB-TV published a letter sent in June from Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. to owner Bruce Levenson that detailed some of the racist comments Ferry read aloud in regard to signing Luol Deng as a free agent.
Levenson choosing to sell his majority share of the team was the result of an internal investigation that uncovered a racially insensitive email the owner sent in 2012. Levenson, though, wasn't the initial target of the investigation; the Hawks hired a private Atlanta-based law firm to look into a scouting report - which Ferry read aloud during a meeting in June - that contained racist remarks about Deng, whom Atlanta considered signing as a free agent.
What Ferry said was unknown until Tuesday, when WSB-TV published a copy of a letter Gearon purportedly sent to Levenson on June 12 that asked for Ferry to be fired.
Gearon wrote:
"As you know, last Friday there was a conference call attended by numerous persons including Hawks management and ownership. We believe that you and (co-owner) Ed Peskowitz were on the call, but we are not sure whether you were listening the whole time. During the call, which we recorded so that notes could be made for our partners unable to participate live, our GM Danny Ferry discussed player personnel issues at some length.
"With respect to one potential free agent, a highly-regarded African-American player and humanitarian, Ferry talked about the player's good points, and then went on to describe his negatives, stating that 'he has a little African in him. Not in a bad way, but he's like a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.' Ferry completed the racial slur by describing the player (and impliedly, all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat."
Gearon added the ramifications would be devastating if Ferry's comments ever leaked to the media and called for Levenson to take "swift and severe action" against Ferry by asking for his resignation or terminating him.
Although Gearon's letter did not name which player Ferry was talking about, ESPN reported it was Deng.
Ferry apologized Tuesday, emphasizing he only repeated what was on the scouting report and that the comments did not reflect his views. Atlanta took undisclosed disciplinary actioin against Ferry, but it appears he will keep his job. He's reportedly scheduled to meet with the league office on Tuesday.
Read more coverage on Levenson's email HERE.
