The controversial remarks Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry read aloud from a background report on Luol Deng may have come from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the racist remarks in the report can be traced back to the Cavaliers front office.
Ferry, who on Friday took an indefinite leave of absence from the team, might have just been repeating what the Cavaliers said about Deng.
"The source of the information and who entered it into the team's database remains unknown. According to the cover page on Deng, the information was gathered from either a teammate or front office personnel in Chicago or Cleveland," Vivlamore wrote on Saturday.
Read the full five-page background report HERE.
Ferry insisted he was only reading what was written about Deng, but the remarks - which were read aloud during a conference call in June regarding signing Deng as a free agent - led to an internal investigation being launched. The investigation ultimately led to Hawks majority owner Bruce Levenson deciding to sell his share of the team after the discovery of a racially insensitive email he sent in 2012.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he didn't think Ferry deserved to be terminated, and the Hawks agreed. Still, seemingly under mounting criticism, Ferry decided to take a leave of absence from the team to deal with the fallout.
"This afternoon, Danny Ferry requested, and I have approved, taking an indefinite leave of absence, effective immediately," Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said Friday in a statement. "This has been an incredibly difficult time for him and his family and it is my hope that this time away from the Hawks organization allows him the privacy he needs to listen to the community, to learn about his mistakes, and to begin the long process of personal healing. As a human being, manager and friend, I wish him well as he undergoes this process."
