Danny Ferry Is On The Clock
Chaos, at the highest levels, will no longer be the operating model when new ownership takes over the Atlanta Hawks. If there is a lesson to be learned from the Bruce Levenson era it is the old phrase about power: absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The Bruce Levenson era was marked by sniping, bitching, and a lack of unity as one owner, Levenson, was based in D.C., another owner, Michael Gearon Jr., was based in Atlanta, and a third, Steve Belkin, lived in Boston. Curiously, they attempted to run a team when they couldn’t agree on much of anything about the product they owned.
Their alliance took on a soap opera narrative when Steve Belkin was forced out. He sued Bruce Levenson and Micheal Gearon Jr. A decade later, the public divorce is of little surprise as Levenson and Gearon cite irreconcilable differences and cash their check.
More from Soaring Down South
- Start, Bench, Cut: Sorting through the Hawks’ power forward options
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic reacts to earning FIBA World Cup championship bid
- When does training camp start for the Atlanta Hawks?
- Grade the trade: Hawks deal Trae Young to Clippers in shocking proposal
- Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal
Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon Jr. will net a very fat profit from selling to billionaire Tony Ressler and millionaire Grant Hill. It is a singular victory for Levenson and Gearon, the bottom line paid off in the end. But, in the process of cashing out they have to live with the self-inflicted wound that caused them to lose their basketball team without their say-so as the NBA swooped in to restore order. Their reputations will forever be tarnished by the public humiliation of it all.
Bruce Levenson and his group purchased the Hawks in 2004 and under his ownership the Hawks were in the playoffs for eight straight years. They drafted Al Horford and Jeff Teague, they fought about Joe Johnson, then paid him a salary he could never live up to. That there was constant discord within the ownership group, particularly about Danny Ferry, was predictable.
"Jeff Zillgit, in USA Today noted the discord in a September article. “Ferry was hired to make the Hawks a contender but his style didn’t always help him make friends. Shortly after Ferry took the Hawks job in 2012, he dismissed longtime Hawks public relations director Arthur Triche, the first African American PR director in the NBA and a popular employee in the organization. Ferry has also alienated some popular ex-Hawks players.”"
But that was small change compared to the cold war between Ferry and Michael Gearon Jr. Gearon didn’t like Ferry, didn’t want him hired, Levenson did. According to Zillgit, Levenson told Ferry he reported only to him. Naturally, Gearon was pissed about his lack of influence. So when it came time to close ranks he was beholden only to himself.
Rumors still linger that Gearon got the ball rolling because he disliked Ferry and wanted the team sold after the $2 billion dollar Clippers sale put stars in his eyes. Gearon taped the infamous Ferry scouting report conference call, and then made part of it public, the Ferry part. So you do the math.
As far as Bruce Levenson and his inflammatory race baiting e-mails which don’t need to be parsed again for the thousandth time goes, no one is hosting a pity party for him. But, with Levenson’s exit there is one more casualty that is larger and more complex: the fate of Danny Ferry.
Danny Ferry is a widely respected G.M. He paid his dues as a player and has had success in the front office of the N.B.A. This 60 win Atlanta Hawks team is Danny Ferry’s accomplishment. He didn’t draft Al Horford or Jeff Teague but he put the rest of the pieces together.
More from Hawks News
- Start, Bench, Cut: Sorting through the Hawks’ power forward options
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic reacts to earning FIBA World Cup championship bid
- When does training camp start for the Atlanta Hawks?
- Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic makes special dedication after FIBA win
He signed Kyle Korver in 2012. He went after Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll in 2013. He drafted Dennis Schroder an unknown European with the 17th pick that year. He hired Mike Budenholzer, someone he knew well from his San Antonio Spurs days. He signed Thabo Sefolosha last year.
Despite his supporters within the NBA ranks, and there are many, Ferry is not faster than the speed of light. He made himself a target and it was avoidable.
On the heels of the Donald Sterling fiasco, Ferry’s comments about Luol Deng fed into the perception that NBA gatekeepers look the other way when it is one of their own. There exists justice for labor. There exists tolerance and a shrug for management.
And so. Danny Ferry was punished for what he said and he was punished for when he said it. And now he will be forced out, more than likely, according to Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"There has been a belief within the organization for several months that the team’s general manager is not going to be brought back. The thinking is that coach Mike Budenholzer (expected to get a new contract with a raise and more autonomy) and assistant general manager, Wes Wilcox, likely will be at the top of the basketball operations department, at least for next year."
The visuals suggest the Hawks understand the moment. They have never had a clearer opportunity in the post-Dominique era to transcend their identity and plant their flag on fertile soil. They have new logos. They have an Atlanta Basketball Club moniker and following. They have free agents they are going to attract back to the nest and it all feels likes a fresh start. Not a beginning, but going in the right direction. Building on what they started. And more importantly, leaving the past behind.
Even if that past is Danny Ferry.