Atlanta Hawks Owner Bruce Levenson Selling Interest On Team Following Racist Email

With less than a month after the ouster of former owner Donald Sterling from the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson is following suit and selling his interest on the team after a 2012 email that contained racist remarks.

The subject inflammatory email that was written two years ago was about the owner's theory that arena attendance was down due to the prominence of black fans that alienated the white fans of the Hawks. Levenson relayed last Sunday that his purpose for the email was "to bridge Atlanta's racial sports divide." Instead he is on the cliff of losing his franchise the way Sterling fell hard.

''I have said repeatedly that the NBA should have zero tolerance for racism and I strongly believe that to be true,'' Levenson said per Yahoo Sports. ''That is why I voluntarily reported my inappropriate email to the NBA."

He also apologized to the NBA community and to the Hawks fans by admitting that his initial intent to address the need to attract suburban whites came off as devaluing the importance of the other persons in the fan base. After much deliberation, Levenson has decided to sell off the controlling interest in the franchise.

NBA Commissioner Adam commended the initiative of the Hawks owner to own up to his mistakes and report that matter himself to the league. In the meantime, the NBA will coordinate with the ownership group and CEO Steve Koonin on how to transition into the next phase following the departure of the co-owner.

This is the second time that the league is embroiled in racism issues after the much publicized, Donald Sterling, that happened during the playoff run of the Los Angeles Clippers. A court ruling upheld the move to sell the team to the Steve Ballmer group and strip Sterling of any association with the league. Levenson is hurdling this saga due to an inappropriate email sent to general manager Danny Ferry that comes off as saying that "southern whites" are uncomfortable during games due to the presence of black fans.

''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,'' Levenson said in the email released last Sunday by the Hawks.

The community reacted to the full text of the email with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed remarking that the statements in Levenson's email were "reprehensible and offensive." He added that the comments made were not representative of Atlanta's history of diversity and inclusion. He also lauded the NBA's move not to tolerate any efforts to discriminate its players and especially the fan base. Renowned pastor Reverend Al Sharton also released a statement egging Silver to continue on vetting all owners and making them accountable for their actions.

This is not the first time that Levenson has attempted to sell the team as the Hawks were in the market in 2011 but the sale supposedly to a California real estate magnet and a pizza chain owner did not see daylight.