Danny Ferry‘s controversial remarks have sparked a series of strong reactions, but at least two prominent African-American NBA figures have stepped forward and shown support for the Hawks GM, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst details. Wayne Embry, the NBA’s first African-American GM, and Bill Duffy, an agent to some of the league’s most notable players, both spoke out defending Ferry’s character. As more continues to surface about the scandal in Atlanta, let’s round up the latest from around the Association..
- Bobby Samini, an attorney for Donald Sterling, thinks the latest trouble surrounding the Hawks is only the beginning of controversial dialogue surfacing around the league, Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today writes. “There’s not a single owner in the league who doesn’t have an e-mail, a conversation, a conference call comment, that by this standard that’s been established by Adam Silver, that wouldn’t completely taint them,” said Samini. “But my sense is that it’s the beginning. It’s not going to be a one-off.”
- Greg Monroe will serve his two-game suspension in late October, reveals Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. The 24-year-old big man will be withheld from the Pistons’ game against Denver on October 29th as well as their matchup versus Minnesota on October 30th.
- A new rule allows NBA teams to retain the D-League rights to one player they waive during the regular season, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. Previously, an NBA team couldn’t guarantee that anyone it waived during the regular season would end up on its affiliate if he signed a D-League contract.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.