In a week marred by negative and downright disturbing press via the sports world, no story has hit the NBA community quite as hard as the one coming out of Atlanta.
Hawks owner Bruce Levenson and general manager Danny Ferry made separate controversial comments that have been labeled as racist and/or racially insensitive.
The latest development is yet another step in the NBA’s fight against discrimination.
Earlier this week, Levenson announced that he planned to sell the Hawks. This comes after an e-mail was discovered of the owner discussing the absence of white people at home games.
Levenson’s general feeling was that elderly white people felt uncomfortable at games due to the strong black demographic that shows up.
Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that Ferry made comments about All-Star forward Luol Deng and his African heritage. It started out as a somewhat controversial statement, but has evolved into something bigger as more comments have been released.
According to Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY Sports, Ferry has requested an indefinite leave of absence from his position as Hawks general manager.
Danny Ferry statement part one: pic.twitter.com/N02NEGaPdf
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) September 12, 2014
Zillgitt continues:
Danny Ferry statement part two: pic.twitter.com/YpafTXI1fh — Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) September 12, 2014
Zilgitt adds the final portion of the statement:
Danny Ferry statement third and last part: pic.twitter.com/mqzB1l2Czi
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) September 12, 2014
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer will take over as the president of basketball operations.
WSB-TV reported that co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. e-mailed Levenson and requested Ferry be fired for his comments about Deng. Gearon feared that the words would come to light and hurt the franchise, but Levenson refused to fire his general manager.
As Ferry does some soul-searching, the Hawks will be left searching for answers.
Atlanta has been in a tailspin since Al Horford suffered a season-ending injury 29 games into the 2013-14 NBA campaign. The Hawks went from an Eastern Conference power before the All-Star break to a team that finished at 37-45 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
These latest transgressions are a different brand of disappointment.
The Hawks are a team in constant turnover, and another change is nothing but a setback for an organization with promise. The manner in which Atlanta was forced to hit the reset button is similar to the way the Los Angeles Clippers did after the Donald Sterling saga.
Sterling and Levenson are entirely different cases, but the result is similar. Atlanta and Los Angeles are both forced to determine whether or not they can move forward with what’s already in place.
The Clippers believe they can. They’re loaded up on stars and have a Hall of Fame coaching in Doc Rivers to run the show. Most significantly, Rivers was the president of basketball operations at the time of the Sterling drama.
Ferry is the Hawks’ general manager, and during his indefinite leave of absence, a new name could be brought in with a differing ideology.
At the moment, it’s coach Budenholzer.
Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Al Horford can be a dynamic trio, and Budenholzer has a proven track record as an assistant under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs. He’ll now be the man in charge of all basketball decisions—both on the court and off of it.
The question is, will the Hawks’ turnover trickle down into the player and coach personnel areas? Or is this change exclusive to the front office?
Only time will tell, but changes up top most often result in the same pattern on the roster.
Perhaps the only redeeming aspect of this drama is that Deng, the target of Ferry’s insensitive words, has maintained professionalism. Rather than responding with outrage, Deng has stayed true to his reputation as a class act.
That reputation is part of what makes Ferry’s comments and criticism of Deng so mind-boggling.
According to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, one of Deng’s former Chicago Bulls teammates, Kyle Korver, relayed what Deng told him about the situation:
Yeah we did speak. Luol is such a good guy. And he’s been through so much in life that I don’t really think this has really even phased him. He told me that he didn’t think that Danny or anyone with the Hawks was racist. He said he was shocked when he heard what was said, but that sometimes things just slip out. It was pretty amazing, really. He just wants everything to move on. He wants to get back to basketball.
We all want things to get back to basketball. In other sports, the players, staff members, executives and fans all want to get back to what happens on the varying playing surfaces.
If only.
Faried Wanted Spain
Few players have done as much for their reputation at the FIBA World Cup as Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets. The American forward has been explosive, physically dominant and surprisingly versatile on offense.
Team USA’s breakout performer has also been the most outspoken player on the team.
Earlier this week, Faried made the warranted claim that Team USA’s frontcourt has been disrespected. Despite anchoring multiple wins, the interior hasn’t received the respect it’s earned.
Due to its supposedly shaky interior, many believed that Team USA would have trouble against the home country of Spain. Anchored by the likes of Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, Spain appeared to have a significant advantage.
With Spain eliminated, however, Team USA won’t have to deal with that perceived weakness. That disappoints Faried more than it intrigues him.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN, Faried told reporters that Team USA wanted to play Spain in the gold medal game of the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
Faried admitted he’s “disappointed” Spain won’t be the opponent in Sunday’s championship game of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup because he “wanted to beat them in their own country.”
“I’ve been trying to hold my tongue for this one,” Faried said. “I felt as though we came out and did our job, and y’all kept saying, ‘Oh, you’re not going to beat Spain.’ Spain couldn’t even beat France. When Spain can meet us at the championship game, then come talk to me.”
If you want the truth, Faried will deliver it.
Some have inevitably jumped to the conclusion that Faried’s making unnecessary and arrogant comments. Whether right or wrong, that population is missing out on what makes his comments so refreshing.
Faried wanted to play the best opponent on their home court and battle an interior that’s said to be better than Team USA’s. In other words, the one and only thing that he wanted to do was compete at the highest level.
The good news for Faried is that Team USA will have its hands full with Serbia. That might also be bad news.
Around The League
- The Phoenix Mercury won the 2014 WNBA championship by defeating the Chicago Sky 87-82. Phoenix completed a 3-0 sweep and took home its third league title. Diana Taurasi was named Finals MVP for the second time in her illustrious career.
- Former NBA star and current Sacramento Kings executive Shareef Abdur-Rahim wrote a powerful piece for Yahoo! Sports. The message of the open letter: “I’m proud to have African in me.” That’s a direct response to Danny Ferry’s controversial comments about South Sudan native Luol Deng. Abdur-Rahim was born in Marietta, Georgia and played for the Atlanta Hawks from 2001 to 2004.
A man has just lost his livelihood (meanwhile, Deng has $20 Million guaranteed) A panic has set in across Board Rooms around America. Everyone in the media (except some secure Fox News people) is afraid to express outrage. Stephen A. Smith tried to weigh in one of these controversies and was Pussy-Whipped and suspended, so that now he has to dial-back his outrage.
Its just shameful what has come of this great country, taken over by media-supported Reverse McCarthyistic witch-hunts.
Maybe we Do need another 9/11, to remind people what is Really important.
Remember, the only reason this current event has happened is some fearful Minority owner (very similar to those who feared their organization would be accused of having Communists, in the early 1950’s), turned in his very reputable GM, to the general public/media Mob. However, while turning in Ferry, they found an Email that could potentially make the principal owner, Levenson, into a Communist (reverse analogy).
The media didn’t even report that Billy King (Ferry’s close friend since age 15), declared that Ferry is the “furthest thing from a Racist”. They didn’t give Ferry credit for an ability to “paraphrase” the scouting reports on Deng, into his own words. They didn’t let Ferry explain the origins and context of the “African Continent” remarks. They didn’t attempt to obtain the name of the individuals that Ferry was citing for his information (one belief was that it was someone who was with the Bulls and is very knowledgeable on the subject). There was a specific claim that Deng would tell a member of the media something, and deny it later on. Does the Truth matter? There was noone in the media to explain that Black Americans also use Stereotypes about Africans and Stereotypes (which usually have a basis in truth) have always been part of our culture and always will in the future (just more secretive with the PC Police watching).
Personally, I think a much bigger sports story is the use of PEDs in professional football. I’m skeptical that the NFL will crack down, because if they do, it will much more negatively impact profits, than in baseball. The Sports media should stick to Sports, because other than a few people like the former Stephen A. Smith, are just Parrots of Political Correctness, determined by powerful special interest groups.