Levenson loses his Spirit. To sell his share of Atlanta Hawks

[amfox1]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA  3m
Owner Bruce Levenson will sell the Atlanta Hawks after revelation of a 2012 racist email, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announces.

 

[GBrushTWood]

The NBA definitely set a dangerous precedent with Sterling. They won the PR battle from that incident, but are they going to lose the war by pissing off other owners? They better have some more serious evidence against this Hawks owner, otherwise 1 email seems like a politically correct generated embarrassment. 
 
Need to see more information before casting judgment for sure, but this seems really bizarre on the surface.

 

[Kliq]

This will get unfairly lumped into the Sterling issue, but from the looks of it, it seems completely different.
 

Levenson apologized for the August 2012 email, which he said made "clichéd assumptions" about the differences between black and white fans in Atlanta.
 

 
“Over the past several years, I’ve spent a lot of time grappling with low attendance at our games and the need for the Hawks to attract more season ticket holders and corporate sponsors," Levenson said in the statement. "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.
 
"In trying to address those issues, I wrote an email 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.
 

 
"If you're angry about what I wrote, you should be. I'm angry at myself, too. It was inflammatory nonsense. 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 kind of feel bad for Levenson. Was the email stupid and nonsensical? Sure, but I'm pretty positive that without the Sterling situation preceding this, he wouldn't be selling the team. There is much more information to come out, perhaps Levenson was planning on selling anyway or whatever, but did this action deserve that penalty? Way too difficult to tell right now.

 

[BoredViewer]

If we were to swap 'black' and 'white' throughout that email, how worked up would people be?  
 
Actually... I'm not even saying people are worked up. 

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

fyi - full text of the email is here. 

 

[Caspir]

That seemed more racist against Southern white people than black people to me. I wonder how much the team goes for?

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Sounds like only his share of the team is for sale. He is not sole owner. He does own the controlling interest however. Does the buyer get his interest in the arena also?  That's not clear. 

 

[Kliq]

Basically what I got out of that was Levenson was trying to say something rational; do a better job targeting a demographic that the rest of the league is raking it in from, but ended up just bungling through it with an email with a lot of sentences that make him seem really ignorant.

 

[nighthob]

Sounds like only his share of the team is for sale. He is not sole owner. He does own the controlling interest however. Does the buyer get his interest in the arena also?  That's not clear.

The Hawks and the arena are owned by Atlanta Spirit LLC, Levenson is just the partner with controlling equity. So the team and the arena will continue to be owned by the corporation, there will just be a new general partner.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Hopefully Levenson can use part of his proceeds from the sale and invest in spellcheck.

 

[jose melendez]

Basically what I got out of that was Levenson was trying to say something rational; do a better job targeting a demographic that the rest of the league is raking it in from, but ended up just bungling through it with an email with a lot of sentences that make him seem really ignorant.

 
That seems basically right to me.  I'm frankly pretty surprised that he decided to sell based on this.

 

[Ed Hillel]

That seems basically right to me.  I'm frankly pretty surprised that he decided to sell based on this.

Looks like Cuban may have been right. I see how it's offensive, but it doesn't seem malicious, and I think that's a relevant distinction. This is not something an NFL owner should feel compelled to resign over, and I sure hope that's not what happened behind the scenes from any top NBA brass.

 

[nocode51]

I thought the same thing, I could see an apology but I can't imagine selling the team for that. I would guess though since clearly a large amount of their fan base IS black that he was pressured behind the scenes to get out in front of the story. 

 

[Dehere]

There are about ten good ideas and insights in that email. His "theories" about the team's black fans are expressed poorly but this doesn't seem nearly like something that should force a sale.

Too bad he didn't skip the email and just move to a suburb that's inaccessible to many black fans like the Braves did. Then he'd be in no trouble at all.

 

[EvilEmpire]

I wonder if Sterling's threat (or actual effort) to send out private investigators to dig up dirt on other owners prompted Levenson to get out in front of this. 

 

[HomeRunBaker]

 
That seems basically right to me.  I'm frankly pretty surprised that he decided to sell based on this.

After seeing the Clippers $old for $2b this looks like a convenient excuse to get out and cash out.

 

[soxfan121]

 
That seems basically right to me.  I'm frankly pretty surprised that he decided to sell based on this.

 
 If he stays, it is possible insulted fans stay away, exacerbating existing attendance issues and devaluing the asset, not to mention some other potential downturn. If the guy bought the team to make money, cashing out now makes total sense. 
 
I doubt he's selling at a loss.

 

[nighthob]

After seeing the Clippers $old for $2b this looks like a convenient excuse to get out and cash out.

Or his fellow owners are forcing him out using the email as leverage.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

So . . . why didn't he just sell the team instead of making this public first?  This only
 
A) Makes him look like a possible racist to some people.
B) Shows that it's a "must sell", reducing the price.
 
I don't get it.

 

[jose melendez]

It makes no sense that this is a gimmick to justify selling.  It weakens his bargaining power and mkaes him look bad.

 

[PBDWake]

He apparently made the decision before any punishment was decided on. It's entirely possible that he was forced out, but not by the NBA. Levenson isn't a Sterling-esque sole owner. He's the controlling partner of the Spirit group. His other partners may have been afraid of getting Sterlinged and wanted him out of the group. It'll be particularly interesting if the other partners buy up his shares instead of another unrelated party.

 

[crystalline]

Kareem takes Levenson's side, mostly.  It's a good article.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

It makes no sense that this is a gimmick to justify selling.  It weakens his bargaining power and mkaes him look bad.

I think we saw with the Sterling sale that it certainly does not weaken bargaining power. He is part of an ownership group and there may (probably) be restrictions in selling. Reading between the lines it almost looks too obvious to me that he is essentially forcing himself to $ell at an ideal time with the new TV money coming on the future books.

 

[moondog80]

Kareem takes Levenson's side, mostly.  It's a good article.

 
 
Good take by Kareem.
 
As many have said, this doesn't make sense.  I suspect there's got to be more to this.

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

 
 
Good take by Kareem.
 
As many have said, this doesn't make sense.  I suspect there's got to be more to this.

 
And here it is...
 
http://deadspin.com/hawks-scandal-sparked-by-racist-remark-about-luol-den-1631874464

 

[Kliq]

That still seems kind of lame to me. The only thing I can think about what "too much African" can be related too is that players from Africa are typically raw, athletic prospects? It also seems kind of unrelated to the email, talking about a player and then talking about the marketing of the team seems kind of a stretch, even if he mentions race in both pieces. Again, this seems like the worst thing LEvenson is guilty of is a lack of proof-reading. 

 

[Devizier]

 
 
Good take by Kareem.
 
As many have said, this doesn't make sense.  I suspect there's got to be more to this.

 
It would be irresponsible not to speculate:
 
My thoughts: get right-wing radio buzzing about how this guy was forced out of ownership to the tune of a billion+ dollars, while the Hawks are quietly whisked out of town.

 

[ALiveH]

I'm 100% in HRB's camp on this.  The other owners & the league have to approve any sale.  This makes it much easier & gives Levenson an easy "out."  The content of the emails wasn't that bad - it seemed like maybe 5-10% of it was getting into borderline racism territory, but it was more speculating on & trying to cater to the speculated racism of others than displaying his personal racism.  America loves a good self-aware apology + forgiveness story.  Levenson definitely comes off (to most) looking like a sympathetic decent guy and gets to cash out.

 

[JimBoSox9]

That still seems kind of lame to me. The only thing I can think about what "too much African" can be related too is that players from Africa are typically raw, athletic prospects? I

 
The preceding sentence is "He's a good guy overall, but he's not perfect."  That's called 'context'.  Try thinking of more things.  

 

[richgedman'sghost]

I'm 100% in HRB's camp on this.  The other owners & the league have to approve any sale.  This makes it much easier & gives Levenson an easy "out."  The content of the emails wasn't that bad - it seemed like maybe 5-10% of it was getting into borderline racism territory, but it was more speculating on & trying to cater to the speculated racism of others than displaying his personal racism.  America loves a good self-aware apology + forgiveness story.  Levenson definitely comes off (to most) looking like a sympathetic decent guy and gets to cash out.

Could we split this out from the Sterling thread? We have 22 pages on Sterling and one page on this. The two "incidents" are not really related. As for Levenson, I think ALiveH and HRB have watched too many espisodes of Jesse Ventura's TV show. I do not think there is some sort of grand conspiracy where Levenson "leaks" the email in order to raise the sale price of his share of the team. Ironically if anything the email is more critical of Southern whites than African Americans.  As others have stated, the email is basically speculating on the possible racist motives of Southern whites rather than on his own personal racist feelings.  . If Sterling had not come around, I do not think he would have been forced to sell.
 
Edit: Thanks to Drocca for breaking this out . 

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Being leaked now that Levenson had unsuccessfully tried to sell his share in 2011 as well.

 
 
Not a leak - that's all common knowledge.   And that wasn't him selling his share - that was the entire Spirit group selling out. 

 

[Drocca]

Good take by Kareem.
 
As many have said, this doesn't make sense.  I suspect there's got to be more to this.

Check out his two minute video at the bottom of the article. It doesn't specifically address this issue but his thoughts are really beautiful.

 

[TomRicardo]

 
 
Good take by Kareem.
 
As many have said, this doesn't make sense.  I suspect there's got to be more to this.

 
 
Umm maybe Levenson saw how much money Sterling made by being racist and said Hell I want out too.
 
Because that email was not even close to the Sterling level of racism.

 

[jose melendez]

I think we saw with the Sterling sale that it certainly does not weaken bargaining power. He is part of an ownership group and there may (probably) be restrictions in selling. Reading between the lines it almost looks too obvious to me that he is essentially forcing himself to $ell at an ideal time with the new TV money coming on the future books.

I think Sterling was a special case.  People were willing to pay a premium to be perceived as the hero getting rid of the bigot Sterling.  This is not the same.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

 
 
Umm maybe Levenson saw how much money Sterling made by being racist and said Hell I want out too.
 

He wanted out before, but yes he saw an opening and went for it.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Hawks co-owner Gearon Jr. called for Ferry to resign or be fired

 
Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. wrote a letter to majority owner Bruce Levenson asking that he request the resignation or terminate with cause general manager Danny Ferry in June.
 
In a letter obtained by WSB Channel 2, dated June 12, Gearon Jr. cites a racist statement made by Ferry when discussing a potential free agent with ownership. That player was not mentioned by name in the letter but was referred to as a “highly-regarded African-American player and humanitarian.” According to sources the player was Luol Deng.
 
After discussing positives of the player, Ferry described the negatives as “He has a little African in him. Not in a bad way, but he’s like a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.” The letter states the Ferry completed the slur by describing the player as “a two-faced liar and cheat.”
 
In the letter, Gearon Jr. noted that Levenson and his business partner and fellow co-owner Ed Peskowitz were on the call. Gearon Jr. also noted that the call had been recorded for the purposes of note taking.
 
Gearon Jr. states that he is “appalled” by the comments. He writes “If Ferry’s comments are ever made public, and it’s a safe bet they will someday, it could be fatal to the franchise.”...

 

[HomeRunBaker]

I think Sterling was a special case.  People were willing to pay a premium to be perceived as the hero getting rid of the bigot Sterling.  This is not the same.

People were willing to pay a premium because the NBA's $900m tv deal will be a $2b+ tv deal and the valuations of franchises are skyrocketing. It's the same valuations......it's just not $2b because Atlanta isn't LA in this league.

 

[Nick Kaufman]

He has a little African in him. Not in a bad way, but he’s like a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.”
 

 
This is nonsensical, no?

Btw, why would he call Deng a liar and a cheat? Does this have to do with his illness a couple of years ago when he had spinal fluid running from his nose? May be was faking it after all?

 

[gtg807y]

Hawks co-owner Gearon Jr. called for Ferry to resign or be fired

 
Well, there's certainly a lot more that's offensive in those comments than what was reported yesterday. Of course with this being the wonderful Atlanta Spirit group, this is all probably more about an internal power play between the owners than it is about racism. Quite a ten year run these assholes have had. 

 

[ALiveH]

ferry sounds almost as senile as sterling.  that's the first time i've heard that stereotype.

 

[Brickowski]

IMHO the Hawks would be in much better shape today had Steve Belkin won in court in 2003, starting with a veto of the Joe Johnson trade, in  which Billy Knight gave up Diaw and two first round picks for a player he could have signed as a free agent without giving Phoenix any compensation.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

IMHO the Hawks would be in much better shape today had Steve Belkin won in court in 2003, starting with a veto of the Joe Johnson trade, in  which Billy Knight gave up Diaw and two first round picks for a player he could have signed as a free agent without giving Phoenix any compensation.

How would this have gotten more white folks to the games?

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

IMHO the Hawks would be in much better shape today had Steve Belkin won in court in 2003, starting with a veto of the Joe Johnson trade, in  which Billy Knight gave up Diaw and two first round picks for a player he could have signed as a free agent without giving Phoenix any compensation.

 
 
Drafting Marvin Williams with the 2nd overall pick when you don't have a point guard and Chris Paul is on the board tops most anything else.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Chris Paul AND Deron Williams! One of the worst draft decisions in NBA history.

 
Their NHL drafting was even worse. 

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Drafting Aundray Bruce over WR Tim Brown, Shannon Sharpe and Michael Irvin when your wideouts are Floyd Dixon and Stacey Bailey ranks up there too.

 

[moly99]

I really hate it when people say that a city isn't a bad market because if only they had a top 10 player they would be a better draw. Well, guess what? By definition only a third of the league can have a top 10 player at any one point in time. If the fans will provide poor support unless they have a player like Chris Paul or Lebron, then the team is going to struggle to break even financially in an average season.
 
Levenson's statements in the email are pretty reprehensible. But if I were a prospective owner, I would never want to own a team in a city like Chicago for precisely the reasons he spells out in the email. Having to choose between the masses and the 35-55 year old white males who buy most of the season tickets is a pretty awful situation to be in.
 
Incidentally I haven't heard much outrage over the A's trying to move to San Jose in order to swap Oakland and its African-American inhabitants for the mostly white and Asian tech workers at Apple, Google, etc. But it's the same thing.

 

[Brickowski]

How would this have gotten more white folks to the games?

Because they would have had a much better team?

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Because they would have had a much better team?

My comment was in jest however the Hawks were a perennial playoff team in the JJ years. It's wasn't like they weren't competitive, entertaining or even losing games. They were very similar to the Charlotte Hornets of the mid-90's, winning 45-50 games and maybe a playoff series, and that organization led the entire league in attendance for 8 consecutive years.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

 
Atlanta Journal Constitution's Chris Vivlamore. 
 
 
Which means not just Levenson is selling, but the whole Spirit gang is getting out.   good riddance. 

 

[DJnVa]

ESPN story on how the Hawks are trying to rebuild their brand in Atlanta: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12080830/reselling-hawks-atlanta
 

Atlanta consistently has some of the highest television ratings in the nation for the NBA Finals, All-Star Game and the like
 
Among the 122 big-four sports teams in North America, no brand may be more anemic in its local market than the Hawks. According to the ESPN Sports Poll, only 20 percent of respondents in the Atlanta area who identify themselves as NBA fans name the Hawks as their favorite team.
 
That condition is even more true among African-American NBA fans in Atlanta; only 14 percent call the Hawks their team.