NBA News: Atlanta Hawks Announce Sale Of Franchise

The Atlanta Hawks have announced the sale of the franchise to a group led by Ares Management’s Tony Ressler. The value of the deal is reported by ESPN to be around $850 million.

The Hawks had been put up in the market last year when an email written by current owner Bruce Levenson to fellow executives went public. The email revealed Levenson’s concerns that too many blacks were attending Hawks games and driving away rich white fans away.

"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 wrote, as reported by ESPN.

General Manager Danny Ferry was also forced to take a leave of absence after his remarks about Luol Deng in a scouting report that he "has a little African in him." The two incidents brought the Hawks under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons and Levenson was convinced by the NBA to put up the franchise for sale.

The controversies on the field did not seem to have affected the team on the court as the Hawks finished the regular season with a 60-22 record to finish as the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference, ahead of even the LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers, who were the pre-season favourites. Coach Mike Budenholzer was also named the Coach of the Year.

Ressler’s group who have now brought the Hawks includes the likes of former NBA All-Star Grant Hill, Jesse Itzler and wife Sara Blakely and Rick Schnall of Clayton Dubilier & Rice. They had also attempted to buy the Los Angeles Clippers last year when it was up for sale, but the $1.2 billion bid fell far short of the $2 billion winning bid made by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

No major changes in the organization has been planned by the new ownership, ESPN has reported. Hawks CEO Steve Koonin and coach Budenholzer’s position are reported to be safe. The deal also has to still get the approval of the NBA.