Atlanta Hawks Owner to Sell Team After Racist Email

Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson will sell his controlling interest in the NBA team after racial comments he made in an email two years ago, arthritis were revealed over the weekend.

Levenson’s decision to voluntarily step down is in stark contrast to the NBA’s long-standing battle to remove Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling after a recording of racist remarks he had made to his girlfriend became public.

Despite months of legal resistance by Sterling, the NBA was successful in ousting the 80 year-old and the LA franchise were sold to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer for $2 billion in August.

Levenson however, wants to avoid putting the NBA through anything similar.

“After much long and difficult contemplation, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the team, the Atlanta community and the NBA to sell my controlling interest in the Hawks franchise,” said Levenson in a statement on Sunday.

Chief Executive Steve Koonin has been placed in charge of all team operations and will take all organisational reports as they proceed with the sale process.

Levenson said he was “truly embarrassed” by the words in the email, which he described as “inappropriate and offensive” as he was addressing issues relating to low attendance at Atlanta games and the need for more season ticket holders and corporate sponsorship.

“I shared my thoughts on why our efforts to bridge Atlanta’s racial sports divide seemed to be failing,” he said.

“I trivialised our fans by making clichéd assumptions about their interests (i.e. hip hop vs country, white vs black cheerleaders, etc.) and by stereotyping their perceptions of one another (i.e. that white fans might be afraid of our black fans).

“By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who banned Donald Sterling for life, praised Levenson for notifying the league of the email himself.

The league launched their own investigation into the situation, but Levenson informed Silver he was selling before any findings were made.

“As Mr. Levenson acknowledged, the views he expressed are entirely unacceptable and are in stark contrast to the core principles of the National Basketball Assosiation,” said Silver.

“He shared with me how truly remorseful he is for using those hurtful words and how apologetic he is to the entire NBA family – fans, players, team employees, business partners and fellow team owners – for having diverted attention away from our game.

“I commend Mr. Levenson for self-reporting to the league office, for being fully cooperative with the league and its independent investigator and for putting the best interests of the Hawks, the Atlanta community and the NBA first.”

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