Hawks co-owner supports Silver in Sterling matter

Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson said Wednesday that he will vote in favor of forcing the sale of the Clippers when the matter is brought before the NBA’s Board of Governors in the future.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life and fined him a maximum $2.5 million Tuesday after racist remarks made by Sterling recently surfaced. Silver also said he would urge the Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team. Three-quarters of the Board of Governors would have to vote in favor of the motion to force the sale of the team for the punishment to be enacted.

“There is a process, and assuming that process is followed properly and the allegations prove to be true, I would vote yes,” Levenson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution when asked specifically whether he would cast his ballot in favor of Silver’s recommendation following the announcement.

Levenson is the Hawks’ representative on the Board of Governors. A meeting of the board likely would be convened soon.

In a statement released by the team following Silver’s announcement Tuesday, Levenson said: “I commend Commissioner Adam Silver in being diligent in how he handled this important matter. He acted swiftly and appropriately with the severity of the penalty, and I strongly support his decision.”

For some time Wednesday, the Hawks team website had “WE ARE ONE” on its home page with the logos of the Hawks, the NBA and the Clippers in a show of support for the Los Angeles franchise.

Players reaction: Lou Williams immediately thanked Silver, via social media, following the Tuesday announcement of the sanctions against Sterling.

“I just think as players, for what was said, it shows some leadership, and I simply appreciated that show of leadership and showing that you have our backs,” Williams said Wednesday of his sentiments to Silver. “We were very confident with what the NBA was going to decide. We were just patient until everything was concluded and we were happy with the decision.”

Kyle Korver, the Hawks’ players-union representative who recently was named to the executive board, said the group was happy and stood by Silver’s decisions.

Likely sellout: The Hawks said late Wednesday afternoon that they expect a sellout for Thursday's Game 6 playoff series game against the Pacers. An extremely limited number of tickets were available. The team also opened the 400 level at Philips Arena as it did for Game 4 of the series.

Arena doors will open to the public at 5 p.m. — two hours before game time. The time was changed to accommodate the increased number of fans. There were complaints that it took too long for fans to get in the building for Game 4.

Game 7 scenarios: The NBA announced several scenarios for a time should a Game 7 of the Hawks-Pacers series become necessary. The game, scheduled for Saturday, will air nationally on TNT at either 5:30, 7 or 8 p.m. SportSouth will broadcast the game locally.

If Game 7's are necessary in the Thunder-Grizzlies and Clippers-Warriors series, the Hawks-Pacers would start at 5:30 p.m.
If a Game 7 is necessary in only the Thunder-Grizzlies series, the Hawks-Pacers would start at 7 p.m.
If Game 7 is necessary in only the Clippers-Warriors series, the Hawks-Pacers would start at 8 p.m.

The Eastern Conference semifinal matchup between the Hawks-Pacers winner and the Wizards would begin Monday. Those games will not be broadcast by local networks.

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