Atlanta Hawks Owner is Racist? Sells Team After Offensive Email

Bruce Levenson, co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, will sell his controlling interest in the team after admitting that he sent an "inappropriate and offensive" e-mail in 2012, reports say.

Just a few months ago, former L.A. Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, was forced to sell his NBA team after news surfaced that he was a racist and did not want African-Americans to attend his games.. 

According to ESPN, it was Levenson who reported the issue independently in July 2014. NBA officials, headed by Commissioner Adam Silver, immediately conducted an investigation. Although there are no definite conclusions from league officials yet, Levenson seemed intent to concede on the matter.

Levenson said that he wanted to address issues concerning "Atlanta's racial sports divide" and the purpose to "increase fan attendance". Levenson also said, "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 and by stereotyping their perceptions of one another. By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans."

He added, "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."

Silver stated after Levenson's self-report, "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."

In the meantime, Steve Koonin, CEO of the Atlanta Hawks, will be in charge of all team operations, ESPN added.

In an article by AP on Yahoo! Sports, it is not actually the first time that Levenson tried to sell the team. In 2011, the ownership group of the Hawks unsuccessfully tried to sell the team to Alex Meruelo, a California developer and pizza chain owner. In 2004, the Hawks' ownership group acquired the team together with the NHL Thrashers from Time Warner.