Bruce Levenson is selling his controlling interest in the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks after self-reporting a racially insensitive email he sent two years ago.
Levenson and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the sale Sept. 7 in separate statements. Levenson voluntarily reported the email, in which he racially stereotyped African-American fans, to the NBA.
Levenson, who is Jewish, apologized in his statement for the email sent to the team’s co-owners and general manager Danny Ferry complaining that black fans were keeping white fans from attending games.The statement was posted on the Hawks’ website.
Earlier this year, another Jewish NBA owner, Donald Sterling of the Los Angeles Clippers, was forced to sell his team by the league after making racist comments that were secretly recorded. Sterling’s wife sold the team for $2 billion last month. — jta