Danny Ferry Takes Leave of Absence: Latest Details, Analysis and Updates

Updates from Saturday, Sept. 13

Hawks CEO Steve Koonin posted an open letter to fans online on Saturday. In it, he apologizes for owner Bruce Levenson and general manager Danny Ferry's comments:

Original Text

Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry will take an indefinite leave of absence in the aftermath of the controversy over racist comments he made about free agent Luol Deng, as reported by Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Vivlamore also tweeted out the news Friday:

Hawks CEO Steve Koonin made the announcement in a statement, via Vivlamore:

"

This afternoon, Danny Ferry requested, and I have approved, taking an indefinite leave of absence, effective immediately. This has been an incredibly difficult time for him and his family and it is my hope that this time away from the Hawks organization allows him the privacy he needs to listen to the community, to learn about his mistakes, and to begin the long process of personal healing. As a human being, manager and friend, I wish him well as he undergoes this process.

While the issues related to race are deeply troubling, at the heart of this dispute is an unfortunate disagreement amongst owners. That said, we have taken several steps to address what we can do as an organization to be better and stronger, including working with a diversity consultant to examine us and to train us to ensure something like this never happens again, we are committed to hiring a Chief Diversity Officer, and we have and will continue to meet with community leaders in an ongoing way to ensure our values reflect the community in which we play and work. The process of selling the team, which is to remain in Atlanta, is already underway.

Effective immediately, our Head Coach, Mike Budenholzer, will assume oversight of the basketball operations department. He will report directly to me.

I am deeply saddened and embarrassed that this has put a blemish on our team and our city, which has always been a diverse community with a history of coming together as one. We should build bridges through basketball, not divide our community or serve as a source of pain. 

"

Ferry, who has claimed he was reading from a report, made the offending statements during a conference call in June. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also obtained the audio recording at the center of the controversy, which can be heard below.

The recording is only a part of what was a longer call, and Ferry does not specifically mention that he is reading from a background report on this tape. The rest of the recording was reportedly lost.

What's more, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provided a PDF document of the Hawks' scouting report on Deng, which also contained racist remarks regarding the free agent.

Regarding the controversy, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told Sam Amick of USA Today that Ferry should keep his job.

ESPN.com noted that Ferry made the following comments when referring to Deng and the scouting report: "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."

Ferry also stated Deng was "two-faced" in referring to his report.

Before Ferry took leave, Koonin said that he would be disciplined but not lose his job. While the actual punishment was not specified, a law firm did undertake a three-month investigation into Ferry's comments and, according to the ESPN.com report, went through 24,000 documents, conducted 19 interviews and read Ferry's previous emails.

No other negative information was found regarding Ferry during that probe.

Ferry also called Deng to apologize, and the forward commented on the situation himself Tuesday.