Were they said or read?
The manner in which racist comments were stated is at the center of a controversy that has besieged the Hawks organization. The comments were made during a conference call with ownership and management regarding potential free agents in June. They have resulted in a controlling owner announcing he will sell his interest in the team and a general manager fighting for his job.
Co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. wrote a letter in June to controlling owner Bruce Levenson asking for swift and severe action in regard to Danny Ferry. The general manager said that free-agent target Luol Deng “has a little African in him” during the call.
Gearon wanted Ferry gone for the remark then, and he wants him gone now.
The comment and letter sparked an investigation by an outside law firm that discovered an email Levenson wrote to Ferry in 2012 that contained racially charged comments about the team’s fan base and in-game basketball operations. After reporting the email to the NBA, Levenson announced he would sell his stake in the team Sunday. He will profit from the prompted change in ownership.
CEO Steve Koonin, put in charge of team operations following Levenson’s announcement, has stood by Ferry. The two insist that the racist comments were read off a background report on Deng and were not the spoken thoughts of Ferry. Koonin issued an undisclosed discipline to Ferry, but will not fire him based on the findings of the investigation.
Yahoo Sports obtained a partial copy of the transcript of the conference call Wednesday. The report, which quotes parts of the call, including Deng’s displeasure about the date of his bobblehead night in Chicago, cites that Ferry attributes the racist characterizations to outside sources. However, such statements are not quoted in the report.
The division in the organization clearly is an issue — now and moving forward. It can end in two ways, should both sides remain steadfast in their beliefs. A new controlling owner could come in and make the ultimate decision as to whether to keep the current management structure. Or the organization again could be headed for a lawsuit. The original ownership was embroiled in six years of litigation that began soon after the owners assumed control.
If Ferry was indeed reading from a background report on Deng, two big questions remain.
1. Who wrote the remarks? Someone thought it was relevant that Deng has “a little African in him.” That person likely is a Hawks employee.
2. Who said the remarks? Someone had to relay the information when being interviewed about Deng. The racist remarks that are being deflected from Ferry, because he only read them, are the thoughts of someone. That person likely is associated with the NBA, as Deng is a 10-year veteran.
According to league executives, such reports are typical in weighing the positives and negatives of a player a team may spend millions of dollars to sign. Teams often do such due diligence. Reports most often include a player’s on-court strengths and weaknesses and could include any off-court issues.
Such reports are compiled with information and interviews from individuals from the high school to college to professional ranks. They also contain information obtained from speaking to current and former players and teammates or from league executives, such as a free-agent target’s former general manager.
The individuals who said and created the background report in question are unknown. The Hawks would have that information, if indeed Ferry was reading from a report and not speaking on his own. They have not released such information.
Several high-profile people have called for Ferry to be fired, including Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and Spike Lee. The Hawks were to meet with local civil rights leaders Wednesday, but canceled the meeting.
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