Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. wrote a letter to majority owner Bruce Levenson asking that he request the resignation or terminate with cause general manager Danny Ferry in June.
In a letter obtained by WSB Channel 2, dated June 12, Gearon Jr. cites a racist statement made by Ferry when discussing a potential free agent with ownership during a conference call. That player was not mentioned by name in the letter but referred to as a "highly-regarded African-American player and humanitarian." According to sources the player was Luol Deng.
After discussing positives of the player, Ferry described the negatives as “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.” The letter states the Ferry completed the slur by describing the player as “a two-faced liar and cheat.”
In the letter, Gearon Jr. noted that Levenson and his business partner and fellow co-owner Ed Peskowitz were on the call. Gearon Jr. also noted that the call had been recorded for the purposes of note taking.
Gearon Jr. states that he is “appalled” by the comments. He writes “If Ferry’s comments are ever made public, and it’s a safe bet they will someday, it could be fatal to the franchise.”
The Atlanta-based ownership consulted with two local attorneys who cautioned of the consequences of such statements. Gearon compared the comments to those of Donald Sterling, the former Clippers owner who was banned from the NBA and force to sell the team when racist comments he made went public this summer.
“We believe these comments by Ferry were far worse than Sterling’s because they were not from a private personal conversation – they were in a business environment on a business matter in front of a dozen or more people,” Gearon Jr. wrote. “If Ferry would make such a slur in a semi-public forum, we can only imagine what he has said in smaller groups or to individuals.”
In the final paragraph of the letter, Gearon Jr. writes “We are calling on you, as majority owner and NBA Governor, to take swift and severe action against Ferry. Our advisors tell us there is no other choice but to ask for Ferry’s resignation, and if he refuses, to terminate him for cause under his employment agreement.”
On Sunday, Levenson announced he would sell his majority share in the team after an investigation, prompted by Ferry’s comment, discovered an inflammatory e-mail he had written in 2012.
Co-owner and CEO Steve Koonin, who took control of the franchise following Levenson’s announcement, said on Sunday that Ferry was reading from an independent background report. He said that Ferry faced undisclosed discipline.
Ferry has offered only a two-sentence comment, made to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, since Sunday.“I support Steve’s leadership and greatly appreciate his support. I look to learn from this situation and help us become a better organization.”
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