Hawks Notes: Silver, Ferry, Owners

It’s been more than two weeks since Hawks controlling owner Bruce Levenson announced his intention to sell his stake in the club stemming from an investigation that uncovered an email with racially charged statements that he’d written in 2012. GM Danny Ferry helped defuse the controversy when he agreed to take an indefinite leave of absence after his own racist statements became public, but the leadership of the Hawks remains in limbo. Here’s the latest:

  • A sitting NBA owner told Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Hawks will move to a new city “over my dead body,” casting further doubt on the notion that a new principal owner will move the franchise. Commissioner Adam Silver will meet Friday with Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed to discuss the state of Hawks ownership, as Vivlamore reports in the same piece.
  • Silver said today that he thought Ferry was wise to take his indefinite leave of absence, as Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal tweets. Silver said earlier this month that he doesn’t think Ferry committed any offense that should prompt the team to fire him.
  • Vivlamore’s piece also provides a breakdown of the Hawks ownership shares. Levenson owns 24% of the team, but his share combined with those of Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman total 50.1%, and all three are selling. Michael Gearon Sr. and Michael Gearon Jr. own approximately 42% of the team combined, while the rest of the club is in the hands of Rutherford Seydel, Beau Turner and a New York-based investment group that includes Steven Price.
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