While most of the attention in the Atlanta Hawks’ investigation has been focused on owner Bruce Levenson self-reporting a racially insensitive email to the NBA, general manager Danny Ferry was the trigger for the investigation.
More from Atlanta Hawks
- NBA rumors: Hawks trade candidate, Sixers miss out, Lakers almost lose Reaves
- NBA Rumors: 5 best trade destinations for Pascal Siakam
- The new NBA flopping rules explained
- NBA rumors: Raptors insider drops one player mentioned heavily in trade discussions
- 3 disastrous Zach LaVine trades the Bulls need to avoid
Ferry was overheard reading a report written by someone else about current Miami Heat forward Luol Deng that read, “He’s got some African in him.”
The Hawks are planning to discipline Ferry internally, but according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is not planning on weighing in with additional sanctions:
The NBA has no plans to discipline Hawks GM Danny Ferry above and beyond undisclosed team sanction. #ATLHawks
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) September 8, 2014
It’s not known what the Hawks are planning to do to Ferry and we may never learn what those measures are. Barring any new revelations, the league won’t get involved.
Is that sufficient? Maybe. Ferry’s ideas weren’t his own—he was reading what someone else wrote. That doesn’t make repeating it acceptable, but it does at least add a mitigating factor to the situation.
Besides, does anyone even know what “he’s got some African in him” is supposed to mean? It sounds awful, it’s not something that should have been repeated, but the meaning without context is not entirely clear.
When the infamous audio tape that ultimately brought down former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was first released, Clippers players considered a boycott—during the playoffs.
Will Hawks’ players contemplate such an action in response to Ferry’s role and discipline in this matter?
Stay tuned.