Hawks' owner Levenson to sell interest in team

Bruce Levenson, the managing partner of the Atlanta Hawks, became the second NBA owner in the past five months Sunday to surrender his franchise over racially insensitive remarks.

In a statement, Levenson announced his intent to sell his controlling stake in the team and apologized for a 2012 email regarding the Hawks' attendance problems and inability to attract suburban whites that included "inappropriate and offensive" comments.

"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 in the email, which also claimed that the Hawks were attracting an "overwhelming black audience" and noted that "there are few fathers and sons at the games."

Though Levenson has removed himself from the situation by informing NBA Commissioner Adam Silver of his decision to sell his interest in the franchise, the league seems to have now set a high moral standard with regard to racial discrimination, providing an environment that requires greater sensitivity and care as it relates to private conversations and emails.

The league is especially sensitive to issues involving race following the secretly recorded rant that led to the ouster of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Levenson's letter, which included typos and misspelled words, was addressed to Hawks General Manager Danny Ferry and other members of the ownership group. On Sunday, Levenson acknowledged the error of his email and expressed regret in his statement.

"I shared my thoughts on why our efforts to bridge Atlanta's racial sports divide seemed to be failing," Levenson said. "In trying to address those issues, I wrote an email two years ago that was inappropriate and offensive. I trivialized our fans by making cliched assumptions about their interests [i.e. hip hop vs. country, white vs. black cheerleaders, etc.] and by stereotyping their perceptions of one another [i.e. that white fans might be afraid of our black fans]. By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans."

Levenson was among the first NBA owners to make a public comment distancing the league from Sterling's vitriolic diatribe and pushed for the maximum punishment allowable. "I strongly believe that the league has to have a zero-tolerance policy against racism and discrimination in any form," Levenson said then.