Bruce Levenson to sell ownership interest in Atlanta Hawks

Update: USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt has the full (original) e-mail from Levenson. Check out his timeline here. 

Last season, it was the Los Angeles Clippers and their long-time owner, Donald Sterling, who were in the midst of one of the worst racism scandals that we have seen in a long time, with every fan of other NBA teams thankful beyond belief that their ownership wasn’t in the spotlight for such a horrendous reason. Today, however, fans of the Atlanta Hawks now feel a glimmer of what the Clippers dealt with back in April, as partial owner Bruce Levenson has agreed to sell the team, after emails from 2012 have surfaced in which the owner, of a team in Atlanta, made racial remarks against black fans.

It is crucial to note that Levenson is not a singular owner (unlike Sterling), but his ousting will certainly send shock waves through the Hawks franchise and its fan base. Stay tuned for more details on the next step, but for now, we can safely assume that he will swiftly sell his ownership stake, with the status of his ownership partners very much up in the air.

Here is the full statement from Levenson on the proceedings:

"“If you’re angry about what I wrote, you should be,” Levenson said in a statement released by the team. “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.“I have said repeatedly that the NBA should have zero tolerance for racism, and I strongly believe that to be true. 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.”"