Atlanta Hawks Owner To Sell NBA Team After ‘Inappropriate and Offensive’ Email
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Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images(ATLANTA) — Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson is selling controlling interest of the NBA team after admitting to writing an “inappropriate and offensive” email, officials announced Sunday.
In dealing with low attendance at Hawks games and the need for the team to attract more season ticket holders and corporate sponsors, Levenson said he wrote the note in 2012 to address the situation.
“Over that time, I’ve talked with team executives about the need for the Hawks to build a more diverse fan base that includes more suburban whites, and I shared my thoughts on why our efforts to bridge Atlanta’s racial sports divide seemed to be failing,” he said in a statement.
“In trying to address those issues, I wrote an e-mail two years ago that was inappropriate and offensive. I trivialized our fans by making clichéd assumptions about their interests (i.e. hip hop vs. country, white vs. black cheerleaders, etc.) and by stereotyping their perceptions of one another (i.e. that white fans might be afraid of our black fans). By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans.”
Levenson notified the NBA of the email, prompting the league to conduct an independent investigation of the incident.
“I commend Mr. Levenson for self-reporting to the league office, for being fully cooperative with the league and its independent investigator, and for putting the best interests of the Hawks, the Atlanta community, and the NBA first,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.
Hawks CEO Steve Koonin will now oversee team operations.
“If you’re angry about what I wrote, you should be. I’m angry at myself, too. It was inflammatory nonsense,” Levenson continued in his statement. “We all may have subtle biases and preconceptions when it comes to race, but my role as a leader is to challenge them, not to validate or accommodate those who might hold them.”
“I’m truly embarrassed by my words in that e-mail, and I apologize to the members of the Hawks family and all of our fans.”
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