Unanswered Questions Linger in Aftermath of Atlanta Hawks Controversy
The past couple of days have taught us an awful lot about the Atlanta Hawks, Bruce Levenson, Danny Ferry and even the NBA. But we're going to learn a whole lot more before the racially charged controversy fades into the recesses of the news cycle.
We know Levenson is selling his interest in the franchise because of the fallout generated by comments he made in an internal email more than two years ago, as WSB-TV in Atlanta first reported. And we know he'll profit significantly from that sale.
But we can't say why it took so long for that email to be made public, and we also don't know who'll buy his stake or for how much or what that will mean for the Hawks going forward.
Ferry's situation is even more complicated. In a letter obtained by WSB-TV, Hawks minority owner Michael Gearon revealed the general manager's inflammatory remarks and encouraged Levenson to remove Ferry from his position. Still employed, Ferry's future is uncertain. As are so many other things about the organization ahead of what's likely to be a significant transition period.
The NBA as a whole faces questions as well, some of which are unfortunately familiar, having been recently addressed in the Donald Sterling fiasco last spring. In fact, what happened with the Hawks even impacts Sterling—a guy just about everyone who follows the NBA probably hoped was no longer worth paying attention to.
We learned a lot about how the Hawks do business in recent days, perhaps more than we would have liked. But we're going to learn even more when all the pressing questions raised by Atlanta's situation are answered.
What's This Mean for Donald Sterling?
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Remember him?
Sterling lost his battle to ever own the Los Angeles Clippers again, but the Hawks debacle may have given him powerful ammunition in his ongoing actions against the NBA.
According to Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated:
"The former Los Angeles Clippers owner, who has filed two multi-billion dollar lawsuits against the NBA, argues that the NBA and its officials were hypocritical in forcing him out for racially-insensitive comments. If other NBA owners have written emails similar to the one sent by Levenson, Sterling could use the litigation process to uncover them and damage the NBA.
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For starters, Sterling and his legal team can point directly at Levenson's 2012 email—in which Levenson theorized that black fans were scaring white fans away from Philips Arena and that black fans lacked disposable income to spend on season tickets, among other things—as proof he was unfairly singled out for racist remarks.
The potential efficacy of such an argument is unclear at this point, but at the very least, Sterling could haul the NBA and its owners through a long process of discovery during which more such inflammatory communications could possibly come to light.
The Levenson email and Ferry comments won't allow Sterling to get his Clips back, but they'll let him make life miserable over the next few years for the owners who ousted him—which is what he might want most anyway.
Are Other NBA Owners Being Investigated?
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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban worried about a "slippery slope" when the Sterling situation went down, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas, and we may soon see if other NBA owners are in danger of losing their footing.
It's hard to know whether the NBA became aware of Levenson's email and Ferry's comments through its own investigation or if a third party was responsible. For what it's worth, Sterling's attorney, Bobby Samini, told Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times (subscription required):
"I don't think it's a surprise. Anybody who believes the story that it was self-reported by Levenson is completely naive. I have absolutely no confidence it was self-reported. This is clearly the standard which has now been set by the commissioner of the NBA.
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From the league's standpoint, NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: "Any claim that Mr. Levenson did not self-report his email is categorically false."
If we untangle the conflicting statements here, we see Sterling's counsel insinuating that either the NBA or some third-party investigatory arm is digging for dirt, which paints Silver and the league with a sort of secret-police brush.
Bass' assertion makes the league look good because a self-report like Levenson's indicates the post-Sterling world created by Silver's discipline is one in which teams and owners understand the value of racial sensitivity.
It's hard to know which take is true, and it's similarly difficult to determine whether the Levenson situation is an isolated case or part of a new era of self-regulation spurred by Silver.
What Happens to Danny Ferry?
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The news about Levenson's email broke first, but we may never have heard about it if not for an investigation into Danny Ferry's comments about Luol Deng.
Per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com):
"Hawks spokesman Garin Narain said the team's investigation of Ferry's comments uncovered a racially inflammatory email written two years ago by Levenson. That discovery led to Levenson's announcement Sunday that he will sell his controlling share of the team.
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On an internal conference call in June, Ferry made a handful of ill-advised remarks about Deng, which caused Gearon to write a letter to Levenson: "Ferry's comments were so far out of bounds that we are concerned that he has put the entire franchise in jeopardy," Gearon wrote in the letter obtained by WSB-TV.
Gearon asked that Ferry be terminated.
After apologizing and insisting he was merely repeating comments gathered from other sources, Ferry remains employed by the Hawks, who have not disclosed what disciplinary measures were taken.
Ferry says he was merely repeating the words that landed him in hot water, though a general manager for an NBA team should probably know enough to disregard reports like the one he read about Deng. But for now, he can claim that those words weren't from the heart.
Gearon offered a strong take on the topic, per his letter:
"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. 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.
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Ferry hasn't lost his job yet, and maybe he never will. But you can bet whatever new ownership group comes in to replace Levenson will think long and hard about whether it wants to remain attached to the current GM.
J. Michael of CSN Washington tweeted: "Ferry sending out resumes yet? And who's the scout who supposedly wrote 'little African in him' in his report. Do tell #Hawks #Heat #NBA"
If Ferry doesn't ultimately wind up out of work, it's only fair to assume that somebody else will. And you also have to wonder whether Atlanta and the rest of the teams in the league are now considering steps to control the language used in scouting reports.
Memos about new "best practices" are probably flying right now.
What's Up with the Timing?
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Interesting how the news broke on a messy two-year-old story as the NFL kicked off its season on Sept. 7, don't you think?
Because we don't yet know when the NBA became aware of the Levenson emails or the Ferry comments, we can't prove the public release of the news on Sept. 7 was a calculated decision. At most, we can say it seemed a little convenient to air dirty laundry on a uniquely distraction-heavy day.
That's where we have to leave any conspiracy theories, though.
What remains inexplicable is the delay between Gearon's letter to Levenson and the story going public.
Did it take the Hawks three months (Ferry's comments were made in June) to determine discipline was necessary?
Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes Levenson shared his email with the NBA in July. If that's true—though Sterling's attorney implies it was leaked—did Levenson need six weeks to realize selling his interest in the team might be best for everyone?
What'll Happen with the Sale?
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Levenson is going to cash in. That much we know for sure.
According to Vivlamore, Hawks co-owner and CEO Steve Koonin has had no shortage of interest in Levenson's majority stake. "I had over seven phone calls directly today from multi-billionaires. It blew my mind some of the people who wrote me today," Koonin (pictured above) said.
Vivlamore reports that Levenson's exact ownership percentage is unknown, so it's hard to say how much he stands to make.
But with the Milwaukee Bucks selling for $550 million and the Clippers costing Steve Ballmer a cool $2 billion, it's safe to assume Levenson will make a nice return on the $204 million he invested in the Hawks back in 2004.
Somehow, it's both a buyer's and seller's market when it comes to NBA franchises. That means we should expect things to move very quickly, especially if Koonin's billionaire suitors want to install themselves before the season starts.
Will This Change Anything for the Hawks?
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Whether the Hawks will ever sort out their low-attendance problems under new ownership is anybody's guess. Say what you will about Levenson, but he was right to be confused by Atlanta's perennially low draw.
It will be interesting to see if Levenson's exit, a new owner's entrance and possibly Ferry's departure down the line will breathe new life into the small fanbase. It will certainly help if the Hawks put together a winning season, but Atlanta has been relatively successful for most of Levenson's tenure, making the playoffs in each of the past seven years.
Despite that, the Hawks ranked 28th in attendance last season and have not ranked higher than 18th in any of the past 14 seasons, according to ESPN.com.
So wins don't necessarily guarantee a change in that regard.
What will be even more fascinating to watch is the players' reaction.
According to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst:
"The Hawks held a players-only meeting Sunday night to discuss the situation, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard.
The meeting, which was held at Philips Arena, occurred after the Hawks players were addressed by Koonin, Ferry, coach Mike Budenholzer and assistant GM Wes Wilcox. The officials apologized to the players and then left the locker room to allow the players to talk among themselves.
More than 10 players attended the meeting, including some of the club's non-African-American players. One person familiar with the meeting said the players were extremely upset with the club's management and ownership.
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There was talk of a league-wide boycott in the wake of Sterling's comments last spring. And while no such threats have been made in this instance, you have to wonder how Hawks players and fans might react in the coming weeks.
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