Hawks to be Sold After Revelation of Racist E-Mail by Owner

Co-Owner/CEO (not GM)

Spoiler

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a> GM Steve Koonin: &quot;Danny Ferry is the GM of the Hawks today because there was a process.&quot;</p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509345774178959361">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: &quot;I felt the right thing to do was to go with the facts, and Mr. Gearon's letter was before the investigation.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509346158272344064">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: Retaining Danny Ferry is &quot;a decision I am willing to live with&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509346467740647424">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin on demand for Ferry to be fired: &quot;I understand. But if we sentence people based on what everyone wants, we would have no justice sys&quot;</p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509346692404359168">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin on retaining Ferry: &quot;I have to be fair to the facts. As of today, based on the facts, this is what I've decided.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509347197797027840">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin says he's stayed up all night last two nights answering e-mails from ticket holders, asking for second chance <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509347651717177344">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: &quot;People are hurt. People are wounded. Come and cheer for the players, don't punish them.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509347781098876928">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin to fans: &quot;Give us a second chance, and please understand we have to earn your trust.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509348133420421120">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin says coaches and players met Sunday night, mood was &quot;incredibly somber. I apologized to them.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509348432214261761">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: &quot;Players need to earn back trust of ownership. They've been failed by ownership.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509348500610748417">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: &quot;This is unprecedented. There's no taking this in stride. These players bust their ass and they've been let down.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509348740248117248">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: &quot;This (investigation) cost a man his reputation and his team. This investigation was done well.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509350011814285312">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: &quot;We've removed our owner, we have a good team, I hope people will forgive.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509350255763415041">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: &quot;I think the (new owner) has to be the right fit and understands the marketplace.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509350444536455168">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Koonin: &quot;There is no jeopardy of the Atlanta Hawks leaving the city of Atlanta.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLHawks?src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>&mdash; Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeConti929/status/509350825895141376">September 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Ferry's comment were much worse than those of the owner.

 

Not every African Brit thinks that way. One might not say African-English all the time but one still identifies as that or goes with "Black Brit" as "Horry4thewin" wrote.

I know personally Luol considers himself "African-English".

 

Agree 1000x. I think it deserves its own thread tbh.

 

You're the perfect example of a bigot stuck in the black-white paradigm--completely ignorant of race and ethnic issues outside of the African American context.

If you compare Asian American history in the US it's remarkably similar to other minorities. Asians were enslaved, oppressed, and segregated just the same. The fact that Asians today tend to overcome may of these obstacles doesn't mean it never happened. It just means that Asians focus more on education more so than other oppressed minorities.

 

Detroit is predominantly black, but the Palace of Auburn Hills where the Pistons play is in Auburn Hills, one of the richer cities in the country--which is predominantly white.

 

The Pistons stadium is over an hour away from Downtown Detroit.

 

--

I largely agree the e-mail is an attempt to expand demographics, which is essential to ANY business. Actually, he seems neither ignorant nor racist. This is how businessmen operate, in the sense that they go with their gut; he didn't need data; he can see with his own eyes. The only portion of the email that has racist undertones is the suggestion that whites are afraid of blacks? Why would that be? If the implication is that whites believe a race of people (Atlanta blacks) to be dangerous, troublesome and mob-like, based solely on their race, then it does foster a racist idea that a group is inferior based on race. But I actually think he did well to distance himself from that belief immediately in the email - calling it "racist garbage" and pointing out that there was nothing dangerous about the Arena or the neighborhood (thus, nothing dangerous about the 70% black population in the arena). I don't think resignation was warranted.

 

Morey made a mistake with Parsons. He should have traded Parsons to Atlanta to help them draw the kind of fans the former managing partner wanted to draw.

 

I think this post from B-Bob in the other Ferry thread is worthy of being in this thread with J.R.'s original news. So, I'm posting it here

 

Hi Guys

this whole issue is fascinating for me as an Asian person living in Australia. I'm not familiar with the demographics and how the white vs black plays out. But I am familiar with massive racial segregations where people specifically avoid things due to race (for example most olderChinese people don't like black people simply because their culture has promoted them as not good people).

Is there any substances of truth that Hawk games are not heavily attended to because of racial demographics? Locally I've seen Chinese people effectively move whites out of suburbs by saturating it with their culture and language here in Sydney. White people flat out refuse to buy or live in those suburbs now. Is it racist if it's true???

 

lol

Very racist. For your even thinking this and posting it shows you are being racist also. You must always at all times post neutral views and be politically correct.

 

You mean Teenage girls and douchey 50-year-old dot com billionaires?

 

I read back about 5 pages and hadn't seen this posted. Kareem Abdul Jabbar doesn't think Levenson's letter was racist.

http://time.com/3296175/bruce-levenson-atlanta-hawks-racist-email-kareem-abdul-jabbar/

Here's a few of the good bits:

 

I am about 1.5 hours from Atlanta. The reality is this is Georgia Bulldogs country and Atlanta Braves come second. The Atlanta Hawks simply do not exist. I occasionally hear about the Falcons but I dont think Ive heard anyone speak about the Hawks. Its a losing club and nobody has interest in it. From what it seems, the Hawks are catering to its best demographics; The young black male. You can call it stereotypical. You can call it racist. You can call it whatever you want. The reality is the hip hop crowd in Atlanta is huge. And they tend to prefer basketball.

This is no different than the Rockets signing Lin to keep the Asian crowd. They are targeting a demographics to bring in the revenue. If the Hawks want to bring in more season ticket holders with deep pockets, they simply need to start winning. Levenson is correct in his assessment, but he went about it the wrong way.

 

Hawks are a decent winning team with two all stars for a long period of time and exciting dudes like Josh Smith.

I just can't see their brand of basketball as boring. If this team was in Sydney Australia they would sell out every week

 

Levenson's comments are quite tame when compared to Sterling and Ferry's comments. It starts to get into shades of grey for me, are they racist or poor generalizations? Regardless, how stupid are people not to know that email exists forever? Don't write it down unless you're okay with it following you for the rest of your life...

 

Sorry and just to be clear as I don't live in America, are NBA crowds around the country typically just white? In Australia you'll find that certain teams will resonate with certain demographics and be domianted by them in the fan base depending on the area. I can see how Basketball resonates with the young hip hop crowd but does this in reality prevent other demographics from coming? this is the kind of underlying issue I want to get at and what I feel this email was about (however distasteful it is). Are things racist when they are the truth? and if so is it a cop out to say it's racist instead of finding ways to solve it

 

The NBA is a very regional sport. In the southeast and parts of the midwest, there are a number of people who aren't interested in the NBA because the sport caters to urban and hip-hop culture. The NFL doesn't have this problem because football is so immensely popular nationwide. Major League Baseball seems to have the opposite problem, it can't attract young and hip urban fans to save its life.

 

Some of this alludes to what I referenced on page 1 (or 2?) before reading the letter. Basically, if he used analytics instead of assumptions/opinions he'd be clear. You think he'd be smart enough to do that. Entrepreneurs seem to sling and shoot though. Owners need to get CEO's for a buffer.