The Hawks go into this weekend as the NBA’s best story, even while the kook show continues to swirl around them.
They love their coach. They pass the ball. They play defense. They want to play defense. They dive after loose balls. They pass up open shots because a teammate has an even better open shot. Who does this? They're Hickory High School with shoe contracts.
The last game before the All-Star break didn’t end well. In their third game in four days on the road, the Hawks led Boston by 18 points late in the first half, by 14 in the fourth quarter and never trailed until there was two-tenths of a second left. Then Evan Turner hit a runner in the lane to cap a Celtics’ comeback win.
The Hawks are 3-3 in their past six games. I guess that qualifies as a slump this year. But they will take 43-11. Forty-three wins is five more than they had last season and was a reasonable projection for this year. Forty-three wins at this point projects to 65 in a full season and a No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
It’s all good. There’s so much to enjoy.
Why can’t everybody just … enjoy?
Danny Ferry is still in purgatory. I feel the need to write that again because I'm still getting emails, tweets, Facebook messages, text messages and questions in line for bagels. When's Ferry coming back?
He’s not. Don’t expect that to change any time soon, if ever.
The Hawks’ general manager is still on a “voluntary” leave of absence, even if logic suggests there’s nothing voluntary about it now. If Ferry could come back today, he would be back. He put this team together. It’s only natural he wants a better view of his success than from his television set. HDTV may work for you, but it doesn’t work for team builders. Ferry wants to be in the middle of this party, and it’s reasonable to assume his ego would like the nourishment as well.
To Ferry’s credit, he hasn’t commented publicly. Oh, I’m certain there are PR people and friends in the media working on his behalf, suggesting, “Hasn’t he paid enough of a price? Isn’t it time to bring him back?” But Ferry also knows that making a public issue of something could make him look bad and possibly create a distraction for the team.
Here’s what I know about the situation
- The Hawks are for sale. Ferry almost certainly won't be brought back until new ownership is in place. Half of the current majority ownership (Washington group) doesn't want to deal with the issue. The other half (Atlanta group) doesn't want him anywhere near the team. (More on that shortly.)
- No sale is imminent. Hawks CEO Steve Koonin continues to say, "There is interest in the market place," and "It's a process," and, "Things are progressing." That's all Latin for: "We don't have a substantial offer yet." It would be surprising if a deal was done before the end of the regular season (April 15). Then you have to ask: Would you want the potential distraction of a sale during the playoffs?
So forget about Ferry for now, even if he possibly is the NBA’s executive of the year. The Hawks are functioning fine with likely coach of the year and interim general manager Mike Budenholzer and assistant GM Wes Wilcox — so well, in fact, that it’s worth wondering if that will be their future management team. (Notable: Budenholzer is in Year 2 of a three-year contract. New ownership likely will be dealing with a major renegotiation of that contract after the season.)
I wrote a column in September saying that Ferry should not be brought back. The Hawks' success this season doesn't change my viewpoint. I agree with many that he has served a long enough punishment for the racist comments/scouting report on Luol Deng. But there are two issues here: one is the punishment and the other is the big picture of the Hawks' organization.
Ferry deserves a chance to work in the league again. But he remains toxic in Atlanta. There are people within the organization, Dominique Wilkins among them, who still look at Ferry sideways, partly in the belief that Ferry tried to block Wilkins from being honored with a statue.
There are fans and people in the corporate community who still believe the Hawks would be employing a racist. I’m not saying that’s the truth or that’s right. That’s just reality. If you’re a new owner, is that a reality you want to deal with?
It would be nice not to be addressing this at all now. But some in the Atlanta group continue to stoke the flames, such as Michael Gearon Jr., who orchestrated Ferry’s exit and fears his return. The problem with people like Gearon is they want you to believe they’re humble and pure and their intentions are honorable, when in fact they’re more conniving and devious than you could possibly comprehend.
People like Gearon love working in the shadows, trying to plant stories with media outlets. When one doesn’t bite, they go to another, or they feed their friends and have them feed stories.
Suddenly, we have this amusing piece in an Atlanta business newsletter, the Saporta Report, with a headline, “Atlanta Hawks winning thanks largely to absence of Danny Ferry.” The article extensively quotes Atlanta businessman Tommy Dortch, a member of the “100 Black Men of America,” and a strong proponent of the Wilkins statue.
Dortch and “several people who are familiar with the inner-workings of the Atlanta Hawks,” according to writer Maria Saporta, believe the Hawks couldn’t function like this if Ferry was around. Never mind that Ferry picked the players, picked the coach and restructured the organization. He’s the problem, “several people who are familiar with the inner-workings” of the Hawks believe.
Gee, I wonder where this mutant theory came from?
If Dortch or anybody doesn’t want Ferry back, I’m fine with that. It just reaffirms what I’ve long believed: Some mistakes can’t be overcome. But to create such drivel at a time like this merely reaffirms that some people care more about their private agendas than they do the Hawks.
And don’t the Hawks deserve the stage right now?
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