Atlanta Hawks co-owner tried to oust GM Danny Ferry over Deng remarks

Atlanta Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. sought the ouster of General Manager Danny Ferry less than a week after Ferry disparaged free agent prospect Luol Deng during a conference call with team executives in June.

In a letter written to controlling owner Bruce Levenson obtained by Atlanta’s WSB-TV, Gearon wrote that Ferry should be asked to resign or, barring his agreement to leave, terminated for cause after Ferry said on the call that Deng “has a little African in him” and later described the player as “a two-faced liar and cheat.”

“We are appalled that anyone would make such a racist slur under any circumstance, much less the GM of an NBA franchise on a major conference call,” Gearon wrote. “One of us can be heard on the tape reacting with astonishment. Our franchise has had a long history of racial diversity and inclusion that reflect the makeup of our great city. Ferry’s comments were so far out of bounds that we are concerned that he has put the entire franchise in jeopardy.”

Gearon also wrote that a group of minority owners had met with two attorneys, including a black former judge, who advised them that Ferry’s remarks could be interpreted to mean that he believed “all blacks are two-faced liars and cheats.”

Hawks Chief Executive Steve Koonin, who assumed control of the team’s operations after Levenson pledged to sell the team over his own inflammatory remarks about blacks, levied an undisclosed punishment against Ferry while allowing him to remain with the team.

“If we sentence people based on what everyone wants, we would have no justice system,” Koonin said Tuesday in an interview with Atlanta radio station WZGC-FM. “I have to be fair to the facts. As of today, based on the facts, this is what I’ve decided.”

Ferry apologized for his remarks Tuesday but said he was only repeating information culled from other sources around the league about Deng, a native of Sudan who eventually signed a two-year contract with the Miami Heat.

“In regards to the insensitive remarks that were used during our due diligence process, I was repeating comments that were gathered from numerous sources during background conversations and scouting about different players,” Ferry said in a statement released by the Hawks.

“I repeated those comments during a telephone conversation reviewing the draft and free agency process. Those words do not reflect my views, or words that I would use to describe an individual and I certainly regret it. I apologize to those I offended and to Luol, who I reached out to Monday morning.”

According to Gearon’s letter, Ferry said on the conference call that 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.” Gearon also wrote that Ferry concluded the call “by describing the player (and impliedly, all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat.”

Gearon referenced the environment in the NBA following the scandal involving then-Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned for life and fined $2.5-million in April after making his own disparaging comments about blacks, and Levenson’s stance in “preaching zero tolerance of racial prejudice.”

“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 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.

“We also note that the racial diversity of our management team has changed for the worse since Ferry took over. The media (and any savvy lawyer) would have a field day with that fact. If Ferry’s comments are ever made public, and it’s a safe bet to say they will someday, it could be fatal to the franchise.”