Racist remark about Deng sparked Hawks sale

A racist comment about African-born British NBA standout Luol Deng made in a conference call reportedly triggered the chain of events that has forced the sale of the Atlanta Hawks.

A day after Hawks owner Bruce Levenson said he was selling the NBA club following racist remarks in an email he sent more than two years ago came to light, several US media outlets reported that a comment about Deng touched off the probe that uncovered the email.

After the meeting, which took place less than two months after NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned then Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for making racist remarks, a Hawks co-owner asked for an internal investigation and an Atlanta law firm undertook the task.

The NBA was notified and began its own probe and Levenson, the team’s majority owner since 2004, voluntarily decided to sell the Hawks rather than put the team through the legal wrangling and personal drama that stretched on for months when Sterling fought to keep the Clippers.