Hawks owner to sell team because of "racist" email

[nickagneta]

How many other owners are going to come forward and declare their intentions to sell their team because of statements made on voice mails, or in emails, or in team documents or whatever? Sterling's dirty laundry dig up could reveal even more some day.

After the supposedly unanimous vote the league had to vote Sterling out for his comments, I guess the only position an owner should have if he or she has engaged in racially negative tinged language in something that can be uncovered is to do what this Hawks owner is doing, putting his team up for sale and leaving the NBA.

[Ogaju]

there is more to this than meets the eye. I still think the NBA needs to make a statement about this, since they decided to weigh in on the Sterling matter. What is the league's position on this owner? Why hasn't he being suspended? Why is he allowed to handle the sale of the team? What if he decides not to sell? What is the NBA Players' Association on this? Is there a timetable for the sale? Is he banned for life from NBA events?

Why is he different from the Sterlings? What does Magic Johnson think about this? Where is Adam Silver?

[indeedproceed]

there is more to this than meets the eye. I still think the NBA needs to make a statement about this, since they decided to weigh in on the Sterling matter. What is the league's position on this owner? Why hasn't he being suspended? Why is he allowed to handle the sale of the team? What if he decides not to sell? What is the NBA Players' Association on this? Is there a timetable for the sale? Is he banned for life from NBA events?

Why is he different from the Sterlings? What does Magic Johnson think about this? Where is Adam Silver?

Adam Silver already weighed in with a 'good job, cya later' comment.

I think we're gonna see a video surface on TMZ with him pulling a full Roger Sterling, singing an old standard in blackface or something.

[Ogaju]

Just read Silver's statement. So this has been known since July, and this guy was not suspended but allowed to sit in judgment over Sterling? Interesting. Yeah, sounds like he is cutting his losses and going out before other things surface.

[D.o.s.]

My suspicion is that he leaked the email so that it wasn't going to be there to be leaked when he sold the team, potentially making him settle for a low-ball offer.

[Vermont Green]

Very interesting topic for discussion.  Is it racist for a business to target customers of certain ethnicity because it is believed that they have more money to spend?.  Taken as stated, the statements about how southern whites don't want to come to games if it is too black at the arena certainly does seem plenty good old boy racist.  But if the owner had researched the demographics of Atlanta and had a statistical basis to prove that white customers in general had more money to spend, that sounds like what any good business would do.

I don't have an answer but that won't stop me from speculating.   Levenson sure sounds like he is one of those southern white good old boys that he talks about in his email.  Even if supported by demographic statistics, it sounds to me like Levenson does not like seeing the arena with such a 'black" edge to it for legitimate business reason yes but with more to it than that.

Further unsubstantiated speculation could also lead me to suppose that Levenson fears that if he continues to try to make his client base more white, eventually, he will suffer the Sterling fate.  So might's well fess up and see if he can make out financially like Sterling did.

[Casperian]

I don't see anything racist in that email., just a businessman trying to do business.

If you want to turn this into a broader, more philosphical debate like "does adjusting your business practices for external, inherently racist circumstances make you a racist yourself?", then it's a critique of capitalism, not of the societal status quo. In any case, Levenson didn't make the world the way it is, and it's not his responsibility to sacrifice his income for some publicly perceived ideal.

If you can honestly claim that you make every decision in life with the intention to strife for this ideal, good for you, but that still doesn't give you the right to demand the same from others, otherwise you're overstepping a very fine, but highly important line. It is the same fine line which seperates Patriotism from Nationalism, or Feminism from Sexism.

[LooseCannon]

Maybe he was hoping the league would step in and seize his team because he's having a hard time selling.  Or maybe he wanted some rich blacks to get angry enough to be willing to overpay to get a team out of racist hands.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I just read the email, and I cannot imagine how people do not see this as racist.

The arena is too black?

Blacks do not have spendable income?

Blacks do not cheer loud enough?

Latest arriving crowd -- feeds into the 'blacks are never on time stereotype'.

Very few fathers and sons at the game -- another stab at the blacks.

Cheerleaders are too black?

Blacks reduced to 40% of attendance from 70% but still too black because it is four times the league average for blacks. So lets get more white.

Yeah, that is not racists at all.

DTS in a jealous rage tells his gf not to bring magic Johnson or her black bf to his games, that is considered racist BUT Levenson making general statements about blacks, their spending habits, punctuality, and familial relationships is not racist?

Levenson making general statements about blacks, their spending habits, punctuality, and familial relationships is not racist?

Its not polite or PC.

[D.o.s.]

^ Is that your way of saying its racist?

[sed522002]

Looks like this was sparked when he said a racist comment about Luol Deng during a meeting:

Koonin told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the Hawks held a meeting in early June to discuss potential free-agent targets. According to Koonin, Ferry cited a background report that included an "offensive and racist" remark about a player.

"Instead of editing it, he said the comment," Koonin said.

Sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne on Monday that the player involved was Miami Heat swingman Luol Deng, who held free-agent discussions with the Hawks in July before signing with the Heat in the wake of LeBron James' return to Cleveland.

The specific nature of Ferry's comments regarding Deng were not immediately known, but Koonin told the newspaper that the comment troubled others in the meeting, saying'': This is wrong. This should not be said. It's not appropriate in any world but not a post-Sterling world."

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11486641/atlanta-hawks-upheaval-3-months-making

[Moranis]

http://time.com/3296175/bruce-levenson-atlanta-hawks-racist-email-kareem-abdul-jabbar/

I really do like Kareem's commentary.

[fairweatherfan]

Looks like this was sparked when he said a racist comment about Luol Deng during a meeting:

Koonin told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the Hawks held a meeting in early June to discuss potential free-agent targets. According to Koonin, Ferry cited a background report that included an "offensive and racist" remark about a player.

"Instead of editing it, he said the comment," Koonin said.

Sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne on Monday that the player involved was Miami Heat swingman Luol Deng, who held free-agent discussions with the Hawks in July before signing with the Heat in the wake of LeBron James' return to Cleveland.

The specific nature of Ferry's comments regarding Deng were not immediately known, but Koonin told the newspaper that the comment troubled others in the meeting, saying'': This is wrong. This should not be said. It's not appropriate in any world but not a post-Sterling world."

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11486641/atlanta-hawks-upheaval-3-months-making

I'm not really understanding your description of this story - it looks like Ferry read some inappropriate racial comment written in a background report on Deng.  Yeah, the owner's implicitly responsible for employees' conduct, etc, but I doubt an owner is actually writing those reports. 

I can see that the comment led directly to an investigation by a minority owner, but I don't see how it's linked to Levenson specifically.  Am I missing something?

At the very least, this confirms my suspicion that this runs deeper than the single email, though.

[Roy H.]

Luol Deng is the guy you racially stereotype?  The Sudanese-born British citizen who has won recognition for his community service, and who is a great guy in the locker room?

[D.o.s.]

Luol Deng is the guy you racially stereotype?  The Sudanese-born British citizen who has won recognition for his community service, and who is a great guy in the locker room?

http://time.com/3296175/bruce-levenson-atlanta-hawks-racist-email-kareem-abdul-jabbar/

I really do like Kareem's commentary.

Agreed.