Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry made remarks that were worse than Donald Sterling’s, according the Atlanta Hawks minority owner Michael Gearon.
In an email obtained by WSB TV, Gearon asked for Ferry’s resignation in June after a conference call about potential free agents. Gearon wrote that Ferry said, “[Loul Deng] 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.” He was basically calling African’s two-faced liars and cheats.
Gearon believed that Ferry’s comments would cause the entire franchise to dismantle and wanted to force Bruce Levens to fire Ferry. He also believed that the franchise lacked diversity after Ferry was hired.
Gearon hired a former black judge and a discrimination lawyer to do an internal investigation. Levenson’s inflammatory email from 2012 was discovered during the investigation.
Levenson will sell his stake in the team, but the NBA initially said it would not punish Ferry.
At press time, the Atlanta Hawks have yet to fire Ferry.
Read the entire email here.
