海角大神

Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce聽Levenson聽said Sunday he is selling his controlling interest in the team, in part due to an inflammatory email he said he wrote in an attempt "to bridge Atlanta's racial sports divide."

Mr. Levenson聽said he regrets the email sent to the team's co-owners and general manager Danny Ferry two years ago as "inappropriate and offensive." In a statement released by the team,聽Levenson聽said he sent the email due to his concerns about low attendance and a need to attract suburban whites.

He says he later realized the email made it seem white fans were more important. He voluntarily reported the email to the NBA.

"I have said repeatedly that the NBA should have zero tolerance for racism, and I strongly believe that to be true,"聽Levenson聽said in the statement. "That is why I voluntarily reported my inappropriate e-mail to the NBA.

"After much long and difficult contemplation, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the team, the Atlanta community, and the NBA to sell my controlling interest in the Hawks franchise."

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday the league will work with the Hawks ownership group and CEO Steve Koonin, who now will oversee all team operations.

Mr. Silver said the league's independent investigation "regarding the circumstances of Mr.聽Levenson's聽comments" in the email was ongoing. Silver said he was told Saturday night of聽Levenson's聽plan to sell his share of the team.

Silver said he supported聽Levenson's聽decision.

"As Mr.聽Levenson聽acknowledged, the views he expressed are entirely unacceptable and are in stark contrast to the core principles of the National Basketball Association," Silver said. "He shared with me how truly remorseful he is for using those hurtful words and how apologetic he is to the entire NBA family 鈥� fans, players, team employees, business partners and fellow team owners 鈥� for having diverted attention away from our game.

"I commend Mr.聽Levenson聽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 email sent in August 2012,聽Levenson聽shared his observations of the fan experience at Hawks games. He said he concluded "southern whites" were uncomfortable at games.

"My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base,"聽Levenson聽said in the email released Sunday by the Hawks.

"Please don't get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arena back then. I never felt uncomfortable, but I think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority."

Levenson聽said Hawks crowds are 70-percent black, the team's cheerleaders are black and hip-hop music was played.

"Then I start looking around at other arenas,"聽Levenson聽said. "It is completely different."

Levenson聽said he often heard fans say the area around Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta is dangerous.

"This was just racist garbage,"聽Levenson聽said. "When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games."

Though he said he disagreed with the conclusion, he said he told team executives to add white cheerleaders and music "familiar to a 40-year-old white guy."

Added聽Levenson聽in the email: "I have even bitched that the kiss cam is too black."

Though the NBA investigation of the email was ongoing,聽Levenson聽apparently concluded he couldn't continue in his ownership role.

"If you're angry about what I wrote, you should be,"聽Levenson聽said in Sunday's statement. "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."