NBA News Wire
NBA roundup: Hawks to discipline GM Ferry
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry will be disciplined by the team for reading aloud at a June meeting a racist comment from a player’s background report.
A chain of events involviing Ferry led to Hawks majority owner Bruce Levenson putting his controlling interest in the team up for sale, officials told ESPN.com.
Levenson announced Sunday that he would sell his share in the team because of the “inappropriate and offensive” internal email sent in 2012 regarding the lack of white fans at Philips Arena.
The nature of the Ferry’s discipline was not disclosed by the team. According to ESPN sources, Ferry will remain the team’s general manager.
Miami Heat swingman Luol Deng was the free-agent player being discussed in a call among the Hawks’ owners in June when a racist comment was read from a background report by Ferry, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
An investigation discovered an email written by Levenson, directed to Ferry and fellow Washington D.C. based co-owners Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman, that contained inflammatory remarks.
–Marvin Barnes, a talented but troubled player who led Providence to the 1973 Final Four, has died at the age of 62, according to the Providence Journal.
The cause of death was not specified.
He was drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, but decided to play in the American Basketball Association for the Spirits of St. Louis.
Following his career, he had substance abuse problems and frequent run-ins with the law.
–The Detroit Pistons signed forward Greg Monroe to a one-year qualifying offer.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the Detroit Free Press reported that the deal is worth $5.5 million.
Monroe and the Pistons couldn’t agree to a long-term contract extension during the summer nor work out a sign-and-trade agreement with another team.
—The Golden State Warriors signed free agent guard Justin Holiday, who played on the Warriors NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas.
