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Merged: Danny Ferry mega thread

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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Just noting I'm the culprit behind some yucky mod-merging of the threads reporting multiple reverberations of AJC's opinion piece. So if things are chronologically reading out-of-sorts, I apologize for that.

 

~lw3

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Wretch
Wretch

I am sorry that I doubted.     Dear whoever buys the Hawks...give this man his job back.   Dear everybody who said it is possible to rebuild this team without tanking...       ..and to all T

MaceCase
MaceCase

Bottom line is without Ferry there is no Bud. Teams had been attempting to poach him from San Antonio for years yet somehow and some way the Hawks of all teams ended up with him while all those other

lethalweapon3
lethalweapon3

(Side story that I've probably shared here before, so my apologies if it's a repeat, I just couldn't resist...)   After helping to wrap up a long all-day conference at a nearby downtown office, I we

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NBASupes Grand Master

NBASupes

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I love you Supes but you have blown back and forth on whether to bring Ferry back more often than Larry Brown jumped coaching jobs.

I have. My girlfriend made that point to me recently before the ECF, that was went I finally picked a side. Before I was like many of our Hawk fans, if he can trade Teague for ransom like J. Okafor, then he can come back but reality set in. What he said was egregious. As a person in a high leadership position, you just can't do that. 

Edited by nbasupes40retired
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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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#WojBomb

 

 

I'm awash in the Charleston stuff so no time to read it, y'all have at it.

 

~lw3

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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While I personally preferred to see some Sense of UrgencyTM in getting the ownership in place by now so we could have an official GM in place in advance of the draft and free agency, I do somewhat understand the "strategery."

 

World Wide Wes Wilcox has been the point person for scouting and draft-related decisions all season, and it would be Hawkward to have Ferry or ((gulp)) somebody else handpicked by the new owners swoop in the week before the draft bringing wildly diverging viewpoints to the table. Of course, we did something like this in June 2012 with Sund, but that was like replacing a boiled potato, and his contract was expiring anyway.

 

As for free agency pursuits, if you're Caucasiastically-challenged, and not a Dookie alum or somebody with clear Ferry ties (sup, Danny Green?), you're not exactly looking forward to answering the door at 12:01 AM on July 1 and finding Ferry standing there with a dozen roses or whatever. What you wouldn't mind at all is the reigning NBA Coach of the Year hoisting a boombox over his head outside your window.

 

With or without Ferry on the "burner phone" (hat tip to @JayBirdHawk, I hope that's the case) the Hawks may just allow Budcox to serve as the face for the FA negotiating period right up until July 9th, before announcing their formal decision about the old/new GM.

 

~lw3

 

I'm not sure @macdaddy @kg01, but this was my original Budcoxing incident.

 

No rights reserved, though: free domain!

 

~lw3

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Wrong guy!
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macdaddy Grand Master

macdaddy

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I'm not sure @macdaddy @kg01, but this was my original Budcoxing incident.

 

No rights reserved, though: free domain!

 

~lw3

 

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damnnn.   One day i'll have an original thought.   This explains the recent songs i wrote: Uptown Fun, Shake it up, and moves with swagger.

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MaceCase Grand Master

MaceCase

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#WojBomb

 

 

I'm awash in the Charleston stuff so no time to read it, y'all have at it.

 

~lw3

They couldn't find a more flattering photo?  Looks like he himself found out the news while surfing his phone in the middle of his Cobb salad.

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Guest

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They couldn't find a more flattering photo?  Looks like he himself found out the news while surfing his phone in the middle of his Cobb salad.

Conch salad? Oh wait, never mind.

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RandomFan Grand Master

RandomFan

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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13107592/atlanta-hawks-had-no-incentive-keep-danny-ferry

 

Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN Staff Writer
 
Danny Ferry had been out of sight for the Atlanta Hawks since September, but rarely out of mind.
 

Ever since last fall, when Ferry took a leave of absence after audio surfaced of him making insulting comments about Luol Deng, the city of Atlanta has been embroiled in a parlor game: "Is Danny coming back?" On Philips Arena's suite level and among the city's political chattering class, speculation ran rampant. When Atlanta civil rights luminary Andy Young came out on Ferry's behalf just after the All-Star break, Ferry bulls saw it as a pretext to Ferry's return.

 

But as the Hawks wrapped up the top seed in the East six weeks later, Ferry bears became increasingly assured that the franchise had put the events of September behind it, and was singularly focused on carrying the momentum of the team's wildly successful regular season into the postseason. Why screw with the good vibes and revisit that nightmare?

 

When Tony Ressler's group, which includes Grant Hill, won the bidding for the Hawks in late April, there was brief speculation that one Dukie would aid another, with Ferry returning under Hill's cover. But there was never anything to the Duke association. Hill has far greater priorities as a partner in the Hawks, and basketball operations is only a peripheral interest.

 

Besides, Ressler is poised for one of the NBA's greatest honeymoons. He gets to be the savior who rescues the franchise from decades of incompetent ownership. The thought goes: Finally a controlling owner with the authority, class, acumen and wealth to succeed in what should be fertile NBA ground. Atlanta is the nation's ninth-largest market -- young, wealthy, diverse, expanding, warm-weathered and a natural home for a young pro athlete. So however capable Ferry may or may not be as a basketball executive, why would Ressler want to expend capital and goodwill on making the case for Ferry's return?

 

And Ressler is just one case study in why Ferry will not be back as the Hawks' general manager: There was simply nobody, other than Ferry, who had the incentive to fight for his return.

 

It's easy to forget that Ferry wasn't suspended. He took a leave of absence and needed the official approval of only one man to return: controlling owner Bruce Levenson, himself in exile. Levenson and his Washington-based partners own a majority share of the Hawks and at any time, Levenson was within his rights to reinstate Ferry.

 

Sources say that Levenson is devastated at what he sees as a terrible miscarriage of justice that's left Ferry isolated and tarred as a racist. But Levenson didn't feel badly enough to, as his final substantive act as Hawks owner, insist Ferry retake charge of a team he helped build, one that was chewing up the Eastern Conference. With the franchise on the block, there was too much at stake at market to risk mucking up the sale. Levenson had been cutting checks to cover losses for a decade, and this was finally his chance to recoup. Even if Ferry was reinstalled, Ressler could decide to cut him loose.

 

Likewise, the Hawks' executive offices at Centennial Tower had no reason to want Ferry back. The team endured weeks of chaos diffusing the Ferry and Levenson situations, placating the league, civic constituencies and politicians. It was a sequence out of "A Man in Full," but the story took a happy turn when the team caught fire. Who wants to deal with all that again?

 

Though head coach Mike Budenholzer and assistant general manager Wes Wilcox -- who have been promoted to team president and general manager, respectively, according to sources -- in large part owe their opportunities in Atlanta to Ferry, they had little motivation to fight for him.

 

The vacuum left by Ferry gave Budenholzer admission into the most exclusive club in the NBA -- men who control basketball operations both on and off the court for their respective teams. That dual role will translate into millions more in compensation over Budenholzer's tenure in Atlanta. And he doesn't have to answer to anyone except his new deep-pocketed owner. Budenholzer also has a severe allergy to media events, and each day he and his players aren't disrupted by external events is a winning day in BudWorld.

 

Young, intense and obsessive, Wilcox has been accumulating the experience to become an NBA GM, and now gets to do so for a team he helped construct in an organization he knows. When Ressler and other potential owners flew down to Atlanta for a tour of the facility and to meet with team principals, Wilcox gave an hour-long presentation in the new conference room in Philips Arena on the basketball side's strategic plans -- everything from the cap situation, to its talent evaluation process to the Hawks' cultural philosophy. To Ressler and other owners, it was impressive stuff from a guy who seemed more than ready to assume the general manager title. Given all that, can you imagine Wilcox telling his new owner over dinner that the Hawks can't accomplish everything they want unless Ferry is brought back over him?

 

Outside the organization, there were few advocating for Ferry beyond a select group of colleagues who grew up in the Spurs family. The league wanted a clean sale and to minimize the fallout of another controversy involving race, a peace not conducive to Ferry's return. While there's a belief among many in the fraternity of NBA execs and coaches that Ferry likely isn't a racist, there's very little indignation on Ferry's behalf. As one general manager said last March, an aphorism that was repeated almost verbatim by another GM two weeks later, "Danny isn't in exile because he's a racist. Danny's in exile because he's an asshole." This sentiment conforms to the general perception, even by many in the game who think highly of his abilities, that Ferry has far too much self-regard relative to personal accomplishment.

 

In that spirit, Ferry fell victim to the Eliot Spitzer effect: Even though his transgression was forgivable by many, he simply didn't have enough friends to survive.

___________________________________________________________________

 

 

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JETSET Newbie

JETSET

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So basically, Gearon is putting his childish feelings ahead of what's best for the franchise.  Sounds like the type of guy I want sticking around for a long time.  NOT

 

This Buddy guy is a fool if he sees Levenson as a bigger problem than Gearon.

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RandomFan Grand Master

RandomFan

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So basically, Gearon is putting his childish feelings ahead of what's best for the franchise.  Sounds like the type of guy I want sticking around for a long time.  NOT

 

This Buddy guy is a fool if he sees Levenson as a bigger problem than Gearon.

 

I think you may be looking at it the wrong way. The Atlanta Spirit as a whole was the problem. Now we are rid of them, for the most part. Even the ones that are staying are just small percentage minority owners that answer to other new owners with deep pockets. Grizzard can't actually say the Spirit are gone since some still remain in much reduced roles; but he can say Levenson is gone to get his piont across that the incompetent Spirit group that were 100% of the ownership group is no longer in charge. And in character limited tweets, that's easier to say.

 

Also, he's technically correct - Levenson is the only one leaving becuase of racist comments. But we all know Gearon is the huge douchebag in this deal.

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JETSET Newbie

JETSET

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I think you may be looking at it the wrong way. The Atlanta Spirit as a whole was the problem. Now we are rid of them, for the most part. Even the ones that are staying are just small percentage minority owners that answer to other new owners with deep pockets. Grizzard can't actually say the Spirit are gone since some still remain in much reduced roles; but he can say Levenson is gone to get his piont across that the incompetent Spirit group that were 100% of the ownership group is no longer in charge. And in character limited tweets, that's easier to say.

 

Also, he's technically correct - Levenson is the only one leaving becuase of racist comments. But we all know Gearon is the huge douchebag in this deal.

How are we rid of them when nearly all of them, except Levenson, still have a stake in the team.  Gearon has proven that he is willing to sink the ship to get what he wants and he is still around.

 

Why does he have to be passive aggressive if he thinks the ASG sucked.  Just call it what it is and call Gearon the snake that he is. 

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AHF Grand Master

AHF

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How are we rid of them when nearly all of them, except Levenson, still have a stake in the team. Gearon has proven that he is willing to sink the ship to get what he wants and he is still around.

Why does he have to be passive aggressive if he thinks the ASG sucked. Just call it what it is and call Gearon the snake that he is.

If the idea is that the ASG sucked then keeping the one with the biggest ego and media profile (Gearon) is not something to celebrate. It should not be glossed over that the 'extraordinary' lengths to which Gearon went were to cause the maximum damage to the franchise to force change when the majority of his partners did not want to follow the path he wanted to take.

Belkin and Gearon deserve each other and we are still stuck with Gearon. I hope he doesn't even get to attend meetings, calls, etc. and basically just has really nice season tickets and some status with absolutely no role or input.

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