Atlanta Hawks: Ownership, Race And Economics

Racism is no joke. It has no place in sports, or society as a whole, let alone in the NBA. The fallout of the Donald Sterling controversy in L.A. was always going to lead to basketball’s biggest league becoming a more highly sensitized environment when it came to matters of race, and the Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson appears to be the first to feel that in its full effect.

As first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports!, Levenson, and the Atlanta Spirit Group that he heads up, are to sell the Hawks following the discovery of an insensitive and derogatory email. In a process that appears to have gone on for months, Levenson took the rather unusual step of self-reporting the details of the aforementioned email to the league office before subsequently volunteering to sell the team.

More from Atlanta Hawks

If that doesn’t seem bizarre enough, Hawks general manager

Danny Ferry

is also set to be disciplined following a phrase he repeated from a scouting report in a meeting during this summer’s free agency.

According to Zach Lowe

, the report on

Luol Deng

read aloud by Ferry, stated that Deng had “some African in him.”

Ferry’s failure to alter or filter the phrase is said to have upset some of those present at the meeting, ultimately leading to the opening of the investigation that resulted in the Levenson revelations.

The email that’s the subject of all of this controversy was sent by Levenson to a number of his co-owners and Danny Ferry, back in 2012, on the topic of fan engagement and attendances at Hawks games. Atlanta has often found itself as the butt of jokes for their low attendance numbers, and it should come as no surprise that the team would pay incredibly close attention to those numbers.

If there are any valid points in Levenson’s email, they’re very much lost among the rest of the chaos. None of Levenson’s sentiments should be condoned, but although the word most commonly associated with it in the media has been racist, that may not necessarily be the most accurate reading of the whole situation.

There are undoubtedly remarks in the mail that are discriminatory, and indeed, racist. For example, Levenson wrote:

"My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a signficant (sic) season ticket base."

Yet as wrong as this statement is, and it truly is a prejudiced generalization, racist wasn’t the first word that sprung to my mind upon reading it.

Levenson’s sentiments were lazy stereotypes. They showcased carelessness of the highest order.

They were ignorant, and misguided, but were they at the level of the discrimination that resulted in the league prising the Los Angeles Clippers from Donald Sterling’s hands?

Did they capture even the slightest essence of the much more significant recent events and race related tension that was experienced by the residents of Ferguson, Mo.?

Of course not.

This is not a defense for the words or actions of Bruce Levenson, they are completely reprehensible, but the origin of them seems to have come from a place of laziness and nonchalance, rather than one filled with hate.

You might ask, what difference does that make, or why should it matter?

It matters because when we get back to the topic of basketball itself (the reason we’re all here), Levenson’s lack of care and interest has long been in evidence in the city of Atlanta.

Atlanta is a top 10 TV market, and as a city, it has great potential to rally around a team. To see evidence of this you need look no further than the joy and excitement that was witnessed at the Georgia Dome on Sunday afternoon as the Falcons narrowly defeated their close rivals, the New Orleans Saints.

It was just the sort of enthusiasm that Levenson and his fellow owners have failed to drum up during their time with the team, and the evidence points to the Atlanta Spirit Group having effectively lost interest long ago.

Their ownership has been marked by lawsuits, in-fighting and a general lack of direction, and having previously tried to sell the team during the lockout, it comes as no real surprise that a sale will eventually transpire sooner rather than later.

The real question is whether the whole controversy has proven to be convenient in its timing, as with the NBA stepping in to take control of the transaction, the ownership can feel confident of a quick sale of a team they never fully seemed invested in.

Levenson and the Spirit Group haven’t been the most popular figures in Atlanta for quite a while, as their sale of the Thrashers saw the team relocated to Winnipeg, and the city lose its NHL franchise. This has naturally led to concerns of a potential relocation for the Hawks, but with the team tied into a lease in Philips Arena for the near future, it seems unlikely that they would be moved.

What it now boils down to is how these events will impact the Atlanta Hawks themselves, from day-to-day running, to play on the court. The reality is, that as ugly as it may be, these events could prove to be for the best for the Hawks.

The Hawks have some incredibly clever people working for them, and in many ways the franchise seems all set for significant steps forward.

On the court, the Hawks showed signs of promise last year, battling admirably in the playoffs in the absence of Al Horford. Steve Koonin, the team’s newly appointed CEO, has a strong business pedigree and has grand visions for the future of the franchise.

Then last, but by no means least, there’s the team’s awesome social media and marketing teams, who are constantly setting the benchmark around the league.

For Hawks fans, black and white, few or plentiful, they’ve got to view this as an opportunity for the team to progress. A chance to get an engaged owner whose primary concern is winning.

Levenson hasn’t been that guy for years, and in the end it seems fitting that his ownership will come to a close with the same type of haphazard carelessness that accompanied his entire reign.

Add us as a preferred source on Google