Atlanta Hawks Announce Danny Ferry's Departure

The Atlanta Hawks have announced that Danny Ferry is no longer the General Manager of the franchise. Ferry made headlines a few months ago for controversial racist comments about now Miami Heat player Luol Deng, and had taken an indefinite leave of absence as the organization's top executive. Until now. "First, Danny has been primarily responsible for the team's sporting success, he signed Mike Budenholzer and believed in him. Second, Danny is not racist. He showed great leadership by taking the leave of absence to keep the focus on the reality of the team and organization, not on himself. We wish him the best in the future," said Steve Koonin, CEO of the Atlanta Hawks.

The Controversy:

In a meeting with scouts, discussing the franchise's chances of signing Deng, Ferry commented, while reading the report, that the player had "a little African in him." This sparked a controversy that, although not comparable to that of Donald Sterling, did stir up the NBA community quite a bit. Deng himself wanted to respond to Ferry, and issued a statement expressing his "pride" in being born in South Sudan.

Ferry issued an apology through a statement: "There are no words to adequately describe my remorse for the harm I have caused to many people with the remarks I repeated. Luol (Deng) is a great man, whom I have known for many years and who has done a tremendous amount of good for his country and the world. I apologize to him and to anyone else who may have been offended. As I have said before, although the words were not my own, I deeply regret repeating them."

The Hawks are expected to announce Mike Budenholzer himself as the new General Manager, a role he will also continue to hold as the team's head coach.