Report: Ferry’s “African” Deng Comment Came From Cavs Front Office Report

Embattled Hawks GM Danny Ferry has maintained all along that he was merely a conduit when he read aloud a racist scouting report about Luol Deng for Hawks minority owners, including one, Michael Gearon Jr., who wanted him gone. The line, “he’s got a little African in him,” was purportedly found in a report from the Cavaliers’ front office, but Ferry still ad-libbed a lot of his bigoted polemic.

By way of Mike Prada at SB Nation, comes word from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB Channel 2 that the “African” line about Deng did in fact come from a report by the Cavaliers front office:

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution got their hands on the full report, if you want to read the whole thing. The inflammatory comment came from an executive in the Cavaliers’ front office, which you can find on page 2:

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Here’s what it said:

He’s a good guy on the cover, but he’s an African. He has a little two step in him = says what you like to hear, but behind closed doors he could be killing you. Con isn’t bad, but it’s there. African-like, store front looks great but there’s a black market section in the back.

Later in the report, the same source from the Cavs notes: “Luol kind of treated Cleveland like a pit-stop after the trade,” the trade sending him from Chicago to Cleveland in the latter portion of the 2013-14 season.

“He said some things privately to the media but denied them publicly and said it wasn’t him,” the report continues. “He’s not terrible, but you have to know that stuff is there with him.”

Hawks CEO Steve Koonin has said Ferry will not be terminated, and he’s been punished internally. While Ferry was reading the comments from an outside scouting report who mentioned the “African,” ancestry, the audio of the conference call shows that Ferry editorialized beyond what the report said and added the part about the storefront window:

https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/510208627291197440

https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/510212417922793472

Another byproduct of the audio recording that was released shows how clearly Ferry was NOT repudiated by those owners listening in to the report on the conference call.

Listen, a number of different people around the NBA have come forward in support of Ferry, including former general manager Wayne Embry and current Nets GM, Billy King, both of whom are African-American.

But the Hawks’ CEO, Koonin, just announced that Ferry has requested, and been granted, an indefinite leave of absence effective immediately. Coach Mike Budenholzer will assume his duties in the interim.

This story is awful on a number of different levels, but it’s important to keep in mind why it’s important. No player or person should be judged based on the color of their skin, their lineage, their religion or anything else except their words and actions.

This isn’t the last time we’ll be talking about this since Ferry is still in a leadership role with the Hawks, but the leave of absence, the audio recording and the actual report all paint the picture of a man who made a tremendous mistake and will likely pay for it with his job.

Should Ferry quit, get fired, or stay?

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