14. Racism in the Atlanta Hawks Front Office
Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson turned himself in for writing a racially insensitive email to team president Danny Ferry in 2012 that described Hawks fans as overwhelmingly hip-hop-loving black people that might be scaring away whites and potential season ticket holders. Oops. Levenson, who was a vocal critic of Donald Sterling amid his own racist blunder, agreed to sell his interest in the Hawks in September. Less than a week later, another racist incident inside the organization came to light when it was revealed that in June 2014, Ferry read a scouting report containing a slur describing a player, Luol Deng, an All-Star born in what is now South Sudan, “has some African in him,” in an unflattering way. Ferry took an indefinite leave of absence when the story surfaced.
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