Hawks manager Ferry takes hiatus in wake of racism row

Sport360 staff 08:14 13/09/2014
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  • In the spotlight: Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry.

     Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has taken a leave of absence following his racial comments in regards to veteran forward Luol Deng.

    “This afternoon, Danny Ferry requested, and I have approved, taking an indefinite leave of absence, effective immediately,” Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said in a statement last night.

    Ferry’s comments, made on June 6, described Deng as having “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.”

    Ferry said he was “repeating comments that were gathered from numerous sources during back­ground conversations and scouting different players.”

    In response, Deng released a statement reading, “I’m proud to say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just ‘a little.’ For my entire life, my identity has been a source of pride and strength.”

    Co-owner Michael Gearon sent a letter to controlling owner Bruce Levenson calling for Ferry to be fired or forced to resign.

    NBA commissioner Adam Silver told USA Today that he didn’t believe Ferry should be fired for his comments.

    “The discipline of a team employ­ee is typically determined by the team, and in this case the Hawks hired a prestigious Atlanta law firm to investigate the circumstances of Danny Ferry’s clearly inappropri­ate and unacceptable remarks,” Sil­ver said.

    “In my view, those comments, taken alone, do not merit him los­ing his job.”

    Gearon’s complaints against Ferry led to an internal investi­gation to find racism within the organisation, which uncovered a 2012 e-mail from Levenson in which he made racially insensitive comments of his own regarding Atlanta’s fan base. Levenson stated that he planned to sell his control­ling interest in the Hawks, in light of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling being banned and forced to sell his team after his ra­cial comments in a phone call with his then girlfriend were recorded and revealed earlier in the summer.

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