Racist Email Prompts Hawks Owner to Put NBA Team Up for Sale

The Atlanta Hawks are up for sale after a racially insensitive email written by the NBA team’s controlling owner came to light that complained the team needs more white cheerleaders and fewer shots of black fans on the “kiss cam.”

Bruce Levenson put his controlling interest in the Hawks up for sale Sunday after an email he wrote more than two years ago came to light after an investigation prompted by a co-owner.

The email had comments that could be seen as racist, ESPN says, that Levenson suggested changes he thought would potentially attract more white ticket buyers.

According to ESPN.com, the email included these statements:

“I think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority” and “I have been open with our executive team about these concerns. I have told them I want some white cheerleaders and while I don’t care what the color of the artist is, I want the music to be music familiar to a 40 year old white guy if that’s our season [tickets] demo. I have also balked when every fan picked out of crowd to shoot shots in some timeout contest is black. I have even [complained] that the kiss cam is too black.”

Hawks CEO Steve Koonin says the team and the NBA will work to find a new ownership team that is united and committed to Atlanta.

The “statement from Controlling Owner Bruce Levenson is extremely disappointing and the email that he sent over two years ago was alarming, offensive and most of all, completely unacceptable and does not reflect the principles and values of the Hawks organization,” Koonin said on the team website.

The news again raises race just months after NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Donald Sterling, the Los Angeles Clippers’ former owner, for life and started proceedings to force him to sell the team when racist comments he made became public, says ESPN. Levenson had been one of the most outspoken owners against Sterling’s actions.

“If you’re angry about what I wrote, you should be. I’m angry at myself, too,” Levenson said Sunday in a statement reports USA Today. “We all may have subtle biases and preconceptions when it comes to race, but my role as a leader is to challenge them, not to validate or accommodate those who might hold them. … “I’m truly embarrassed by my words in that e-mail.”