Ferry Taking Indefinite Leave of Absence

[HawkItus]

 

The following statement was released by President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ferry:

 

“No words can adequately describe my remorse for the hurt that I have caused many people through the statements I repeated, most importantly Luol Deng.

 

Luol is a good man who I have known for many years and he has done a tremendous amount of good for his country and around the world.  I apologize to Luol and I apologize to all that I have offended. As I have said, while these were not my words, I deeply regret repeating them.  Almost all the background information I provided during the lengthy presentation regarding Luol was positive and my personal and professional recommendation during the call was very much in favor of adding Luol to our team but I never should have uttered those offensive remarks and for that I apologize.

 

My focus moving forward is to tirelessly work to rebuild trust with this community and with our fans. I realize that my words may ring hollow now and my future actions must speak for me.  I will maximize my time during this leave to meet with community leaders and further educate myself and others on the extremely sensitive issues surrounding race, diversity, and inclusion. I will find a way to make a positive difference in this area, and further learn from the sensitivity training that I will go through.”

 

– NBA Press Releases

Read more at http://www.basketbal...5mD15iHfl6AW.99

That is all he had to say from the beginning.  Get in front of things people...

[HawkItus]

I concur.

May I point out that the paragraph that DF referenced was June 6th, the same day of the conference call.

Are you listening to Zac Klien on 929?  He just made the exact same point.

[Admin]

That is all he had to say from the beginning.  Get in front of things people...

 

Don't you think that if he could have, he would have? No way he's just gonna sit there and listen to his reputation and career get flushed down the toilet. 

 

There was clearly a reason why this had to wait to get out. Not sure what the reasoning is, but there's zero chance that if he could have released this in the beginning that he wouldn't have. 

[Guest]

That is all he had to say from the beginning. Get in front of things people...

There is a process to everything. Like Koonin said "you gather the FACTS' then make decisions.

You get all your ducks in a row then make your presentation.

[skimaskway23]

In ferry I trust

[JRid]

I just wanna hear that the report on his feelings of Ryan Cameron are false. And the report of he and Bruce possibly trying to block the statue of Nique being created. 

Don't just assume Ferry was totally hating on Ryan Cameron. Ferry was new to the Hawks and was discussing with the owners how to bring more people to the games. He may have wondered out loud if Cameron was good for that or not and maybe that was shut down quickly. Did Cameron get demoted? You mentioned Cameron didn't even know about it. This is one of the huge problems with all this coming out. People hear small things that were said(probably coming from Gearon) and automatically assume the worse.

 

We certainly don't know the details of the statue of Nique either. There is no telling what the real story is on that. I don't see why Ferry would be completely against that. Don't assume Ferry was thinking no that will never happen.

[capstone21]

Get rid of Gearon!  He needs to take a permanent leave of absence from the team

[Admin]

Don't just assume Ferry was totally hating on Ryan Cameron. Ferry was new to the Hawks and was discussing with the owners how to bring more people to the games. He may have wondered out loud if Cameron was good for that or not and maybe that was shut down quickly. Did Cameron get demoted? You mentioned Cameron didn't even know about it. This is one of the huge problems with all this coming out. People hear small things that were said(probably coming from Gearon) and automatically assume the worse.

 

We certainly don't know the details of the statue of Nique either. There is no telling what the real story is on that. I don't see why Ferry would be completely against that. Don't assume Ferry was thinking no that will never happen.

 

I'm hoping for the best. The Cameron thing wouldn't surprise me as Ferry seems like a pretty boring guy and for the lack of a better term, Cameron may be a bit too colorful for him. The Nique thing seems totally out of left field though. 

Get rid of Gearon!  He needs to take a permanent leave of absence from the team

 

He needs to be removed from the NBA entirely. And he can move the hell out of Atlanta while he's at it. 

[capstone21]

I hope the new owners intentions it to buy 100% of the team ... not just Levenson's.  We need Gearon and his weaselness away from the team

[OldTimeHawk]

Ferrys out commissioning that Nique statue as we speak !!

Edited September 12, 2014 by OldTimeHawk

[ag82]

Im a huge nique fan, but I can see hesitation on building a statue for him. Not to be a smart ass but how many guys have statues that have never even made a conference finals? In a way, it's like a celebration of our historical mediocrity.

[bird_dirt]

I have worked on a few public art projects, and there are many reasons for something to get shot down.  Maybe the guy wanted a specific artist to make the sculpture and that artist sucks?  Maybe the dude was looking for an excessive amount of money to have the piece done so he could get a big cut of it working as an "agent" for the artist?  Maybe he only wanted it to be displayed in a bad area for that kind of thing (impeding traffic flow or something)?  Maybe he was trying to get an unreasonable sculpture made, like a forty foot tall piece or some other ridiculous thing?  Maybe the dude is really just a d*ck and they weren't against a Nique sculpture, but against working with that guy?

 

I hope Ferry is vindicated and can come back, but I won't shed a tear if he doesn't.  I hate Dukies, and it hurts a little that one is running the Hawks (thank God I wasn't a Hawks fan when Christian Laettner was on the team).  He's been pretty good though, so I'd rather see him lose his job if all of this affects his performance, rather than him getting fired because people simply THINK he won't be able to do his job with this reputation getting in his way.  I MIGHT shed a tear though if he is fired and we get another crap GM like any before Ferry, or worse yet - GULP - Gearon takes over as GM.  The only thing I hope definitely happens, like most everyone else, is that Gearon gets gone. 

[kerrypack]

I hope that ferry relaxes the s**t out of his leave of absence.

Edited September 13, 2014 by kerrypack

[CODHAWKSFAN]

I just wanna hear that the report on his feelings of Ryan Cameron are false. And the report of he and Bruce possibly trying to block the statue of Nique being created. 

What report on Ryan Cameron?

[Randy]

Going into hiding for a while is a good idea for Ferry. People have very short memories. This is after all the United States of Amnesia.

[Admin]

What report on Ryan Cameron?

 

One that C-Viv posted earlier today, the summary of events or whatever it's called. Rumored that Ferry is not a fan of the over the top nature of Ryan Cameron. 

[Afro]

Im sorry, but I can't take someone seriously that treats this like a nice relaxing vacation.

It's an indefinite leave of absence... Those don't happen for good reasons. Those happen when you slap your secretary's ass.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Afro

[tbhawksfan]

How many think this will blow over with Ferry remaining and no negative effect to the future of the team?