Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson watches from his courtside bench in the additional bisected of their bold adjoin the Washington Wizards on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013, in Atlanta. AP Photo/David Tulis
Last Updated Sep 7, 2014 11:50 PM EDT
ATLANTA - Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson said Sunday he is affairs his authoritative absorption in the team, in allotment due to an anarchic email he said he wrote in an attack "to arch Atlanta's ancestral sports divide."
Levenson said he abjure the email beatific to the team's co-owners and accepted administrator Danny Ferry two years ago as "inappropriate and offensive." In a account appear by the team, Levenson said he beatific the email due to his apropos about low appearance and a charge to allure burghal whites.
He says he afterwards accomplished the email fabricated it assume white admirers were added important. He voluntarily appear the email to the NBA.
"I accept said again that the NBA should accept aught altruism for racism, and I acerb accept that to be true," Levenson said in the statement. "That is why I voluntarily appear my inappropriate e-mail to the NBA.
"After abundant continued and difficult contemplation, I accept absitively that it is in the best interests of the team, the Atlanta community, and the NBA to advertise my authoritative absorption in the Hawks franchise."
Sports Illustrated letters Levenson fabricated his affluence as a co-founder of United Communications Group, and had served as Atlanta's adumbrative at NBA Board of Governors affairs aback 2004.
NBA abettor Adam Silver said Sunday the alliance will assignment with the Hawks buying accumulation and CEO Steve Koonin, who now will baby-sit all aggregation operations.
Silver said the league's absolute analysis "regarding the affairs of Mr. Levenson's comments" in the email was ongoing. Silver said he was told Saturday night of Levenson's plan to advertise his allotment of the team.
Silver said he accurate Levenson's decision.
"As Mr. Levenson acknowledged, the angle he bidding are absolutely unacceptable and are in abrupt adverse to the amount attack of the National Basketball Association," Silver said. "He aggregate with me how absolutely atoning he is for application those aching words and how atoning he is to the absolute NBA ancestors - fans, players, aggregation employees, business ally and adolescent aggregation owners - for accepting absent absorption abroad from our game.
Kevin Johnson, armchair of the National Basketball Players Association, who additionally played point bouncer in the NBA for Cleveland and Phoenix, issued a account Sunday acknowledging Levenson's move.
"I acclaim Mr. Levenson for self-reporting to the alliance office, for actuality absolutely accommodating with the alliance and its absolute investigator, and for putting the best interests of the Hawks, the Atlanta community, and the NBA first.
"Bruce Levenson did the adapted affair by advancing forward, acceptance his wrongdoings, and accordant to advertise the team."
In the email beatific in August 2012, Levenson aggregate his observations of the fan acquaintance at Hawks games. He said he assured "southern whites" were afflictive at games.
"My approach is that the atramentous army afraid abroad the whites and there are artlessly not abundant flush atramentous admirers to body a cogent division admission base," Levenson said in the email appear Sunday by the Hawks.
"Please don't get me wrong. There was annihilation aggressive activity on in the amphitheatre aback then. I never acquainted uncomfortable, but I anticipate southern whites artlessly were not adequate actuality in an amphitheatre or at a bar breadth they were in the minority."
Levenson said Hawks crowds are 70-percent black, the team's cheerleaders are atramentous and hip-hop music was played.
"Then I alpha attractive about at added arenas," Levenson said. "It is absolutely different."
Levenson said he generally heard admirers say the breadth about Philips Amphitheatre in burghal Atlanta is dangerous.
"This was aloof racist garbage," Levenson said. "When I apprehend some bodies adage the amphitheatre is in the amiss abode I anticipate it is cipher for there are too abounding blacks at the games."
Though he said he disagreed with the conclusion, he said he told aggregation admiral to add white cheerleaders and music "familiar to a 40-year-old white guy."
Added Levenson in the email: "I accept alike (complained) that the kiss cam is too black."
Atlanta ambassador Kasim Reed said the comments in Levenson's email were "reprehensible and offensive."
"The statements do not represent the burghal of Atlanta's history of assortment and inclusion, and we will be bright and advised in accusatory and abnegation them," Reed said. "I acclaim the NBA's efforts to accomplish a no-tolerance action of discrimination. As a city, we will abide to angle abaft the Atlanta Hawks alignment as they assignment to acquisition new buying that reflects the ethics and ethics of a burghal that is too active to hate."
The Rev. Al Sharpton appear a account auspicious Silver "to abide vetting all owners."
"The advertisement by Bruce Levenson is accustomed and adapted by those of us in the civilian rights community, that aloft the affair of Donald Sterling's charge to be removed, and that added owners charge be captivated accountable," Sharpton said.
Though the NBA analysis of the email was ongoing, Levenson allegedly assured he couldn't abide in his buying role.
"If you're affronted about what I wrote, you should be," Levenson said in Sunday's statement. "I'm affronted at myself, too. It was anarchic nonsense. We all may accept attenuate biases and preconceptions back it comes to race, but my role as a baton is to claiming them, not to validate or board those who ability authority them."
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This is the additional time this year a NBA buyer has absent his aggregation over racially aloof comments. Above L.A. Clippers buyer Donald Sterling was abundantly banned from the alliance for activity afterwards recording alike in which he fabricated racist animadversion to his girlfriend.
Owners discussed the Levenson amount at a affair aftermost anniversary in New York City,according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
In April, Levenson said he would vote out Sterling for the comments the closing made.
"Sterling (if he is on the recording) should be accustomed the best amends for his comments," Levenson said in a radio interview, according to USA Today. "I acerb accept that the alliance has to accept a zero-tolerance action adjoin racism and bigotry in any anatomy and I accept acceptance that abettor Adam Silver will act in what's the best absorption of the league. I accept bidding these angle to Adam and my adolescent owners."
Fans additionally fabricated their choir heard about the issue.
"I anticipate annihilation forth ancestral curve is wrong," said Edward Wanambwa, a Hawks fan. "I anticipate the Hawks charge to put a acceptable artefact on the cloister and again you'll get division admission holders."
This is not Levenson's aboriginal accomplishment to advertise the team. In 2011, the Hawks' buying group, headed by Levenson and Michael Gearon Jr., fabricated an bootless attack to advertise to California developer and pizza alternation buyer Alex Meruelo.
The accumulation acquired the Hawks and the NHL Thrashers from Time Warner in 2004. The Thrashers were awash and confused to Winnipeg in 2011.
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