Sports provide an avenue of leisure, entertainment, and culture to the American people. Whether it be a last minute Hail Mary touchdown pass to win the game or a ferocious poster dunk over another player, there are endless reasons for celebration. However, what has transpired over the past few days has really shed a negative light on the other side of athletic endeavors. Former Baltimore running back Ray Rice was released from the team and indefinitely suspended by the NFL after a video surfaced of the actual confrontation between him and his wife (you can read about it here).
But on the same day, another story was revealed to the public. Bruce Levenson, owner of the Atlanta Hawks, put his share of ownership for sale. Why? Because of self-reported claims that he wrote a racially insensitive email in 2012. Sound familiar? That’s right, about four months ago, the league was going crazy over Donald Sterling’s racist rants to his former girlfriend.
Then why isn’t the league calling for the immediate removal of Levenson?
Well, to understand this, the context needs to be set in stone.
First of all, the situation Levenson is in is almost entirely different from that of Sterling. If you read the email (which you can find here), you will find the jargon and word choice to be a bit disturbing. But, if you place yourself in the shoes of an owner, you might be able to understand the points he makes. As a business owner, to attract a certain audience for the goal of making profit is essential. He doesn’t really degrade any specific player or groups of people but rather explains what he believes are strategic business decisions in drawing more affluent individuals to games.
Second, Levenson already came forward and bravely insisted on selling his ownership of the team (unlike Sterling). By doing this, Levenson saves the league a whole lot of trouble and misunderstandings on both sides. However, reports suggest that Levenson wanted to sell the team even before Donald Sterling’s episode erupted. So he wanted to sell his share for a long time, and upon reflection, Levenson thought his email didn’t justify his position as a NBA franchise owner. If anything, Levenson is selling his part of the team to signal to himself and to others that he isn’t qualified in running an organization anymore, even for an email I don’t think had racist implications.
The trouble doesn’t end here for the Hawks, however. In fact, the real problem lies in the words spoken by GM Danny Ferry. In a conference call with Hawks management and ownership discussing interest in free agent Luol Deng, Ferry is reported to have said that Deng “has a little African in him, not in a bad way, but he’s a guy who would have a nice store out front, but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.” That one sentence by Ferry implies more racist and character attacks than the whole essay by Levenson.
These words prompted co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. to call for Ferry’s removal, coincidentally in a letter to Levenson. The most ridiculous thing about all this is the person of Luol Deng himself. Deng is widely known among the league and basketball fans as a humanitarian, kind, and unselfish player both on and off the court. So for Ferry to attack Deng like he did means that Ferry pulled out random remarks that can only backfire on himself because he knows nothing about Luol Deng.
As a result of all this, Ferry was “disciplined,” whatever that might mean. Reports suggest that he will keep his job, but I strongly feel that he will not be the general manager of the Atlanta Hawks. One of his bosses do not want to keep him, history has shown the resignation of other people with racist remarks, and the eventual replacement for Levenson will not want to inherit this mess.
As a fan of the game and of sports in general, I see how far basketball has come since the early 2000’s, when I first started following the sport. Even with the appointment of Adam Silver as commissioner, there was improvement right away. But with circumstances such as these, sports officials will look for further ways to grow in positive aspects.