Neues » Chavez struck out both times he faced Beckett, and is

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks are sticking with general manager Danny Ferry even though the teams new majority owner wants him fired for racially charged comments about Luol Deng. Klay Thompson Warriors Jersey . CEO Steve Koonin on Tuesday told the Hawks flagship radio station that he made the decision to discipline Ferry but allowed him to keep his job managing the team. He did not say what the punishment was, but noted that he relied on a law firms three-month investigation of Ferry and him describing Deng as someone who has a little African in him. Ferry made the inflammatory comments about Deng in a conference call with the Hawks ownership group in June when the team pursued Deng as a free agent. Deng, who now plays for the Miami Heat, responded saying, Im proud to say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just a little. A letter from co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. recommends that Ferry resign or be fired. Gearon said Ferry made that description of Deng to the teams ownership group. His June 12 letter to co-owner Bruce Levenson said Ferry went on to say, Not in a bad way, but hes like a guy who would have a nice store out front and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back. Added Gearon: Ferry completed the racial slur by describing the player (and impliedly all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat. Deng, 29, was born in what is now South Sudan. His father moved his family to Egypt and then England. The 10-year NBA veteran is now a British citizen, played for England in the 2012 Olympics and said hes proud to represent his heritage on the highest stage. Deng, like Ferry, also played at Duke. Every person should have the right to be treated with respect and evaluated as an individual, rather than be reduced to a stereotype, Deng said. I am saddened and disappointed that this way of thinking still exists today. I am even more disturbed that it was shared so freely in a business setting. Koonin said Atlanta law firm Alston and Bird went through 24,000 documents, conducted 19 interviews and read every email Danny Ferry has ever sent as general manager of the Atlanta Hawks. Koonin said no other negative information on Ferry was found in the probe. I took their advice and far exceeded their advice, Koonin said of the undisclosed punishment he imposed on Ferry. Hawks spokesman Garin Narain said the investigation of Ferrys comments uncovered a racially inflammatory email written two years ago by Levenson. That discovery led to Levensons announcement Sunday that he will sell his controlling share of the team. Despite Gearons desire to remove Ferry, Koonin is standing by him. I understand that emotion, Koonin said of Gearons recommendation. I certainly understand that emotion. I know people who have said that to me. But if we sentence people based on what everybody wanted, we wouldnt have a justice system. I listened to what (the law firm) said because they had done the work ... so thats a decision Im willing to live with. Gearon warned Levenson he believed Ferrys comments could be fatal to the franchise if made public. Gearon said he and the other co-owners were appalled that anyone would make such a racist slur under any circumstance, much less the GM of an NBA franchise on a major conference call. Gearon declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Tuesday. Ferry apologized Tuesday but said he was only repeating what he had heard about Deng. In regards to the insensitive remarks that were used during our due diligence process, I was repeating comments that were gathered from numerous sources during background conversations and scouting about different players, Ferry said in a statement released by the team. I repeated those comments during a telephone conversation reviewing the draft and free agency process. Those words do not reflect my views, or words that I would use to describe an individual and I certainly regret it. I apologize to those I offended and to Luol, who I reached out to Monday morning. Koonin has agreed to meet with Atlanta civil rights leaders on Wednesday. The Rev. Markel Hutchins said Monday he asked for the meeting to discuss what he believes is a racist attitude throughout the organization. In his letter to Levenson, Gearon compared Ferrys remarks to much-publicized racist comments which forced Donald Sterling to sell the Clippers. We believe these comments by Ferry were far worse than Sterlings because they were not from a private personal conversation -- they were in a business environment on a business matter in front of a dozen or more people, Gearon wrote. If Ferry would make such a slur in a semi-public forum, we can only imagine what he has said in smaller groups or to individuals. Ferry was named the Hawks general manager in 2012 following two years as vice-president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs. He was general manager for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-2010 and helped build the team that advanced to the 2007 NBA Finals. There was renewed optimism about the direction of the team after Ferry hired coach Mike Budenholzer from San Antonio in 2013. Now, the turmoil threatens to derail all their efforts. New ownership must be found and despite the support of Koonin, Ferrys ability to survive the crisis is unknown. In his letter of apology, Ferry pledged he would learn from the incident. I am committed to learning from this and deeply regret this situation, Ferry said. I fully understand we have work to do in order to help us create a better organization; one that our players and fans will be proud of, on and off the court, and that is where my focus is moving forward. Kevin Durant Warriors Jersey . Burris threw for 247 yards in one half of a game -- on pace for a nearly 500-yard outing -- as the Redblacks downed the woeful Montreal Alouettes 26-10 in CFL pre-season play Friday night at Percival Molson Stadium. DAngelo Russell Jersey . -- Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe was alert and recovering at a Denver hospital Saturday after suffering seizure-like symptoms when the teams bus pulled into the airport Friday afternoon for the flight to Kansas City. https://www.warriorsrookiesshop.com/Wilt-Chamberlain-City-Edition-Jersey/ .com) - The top spot in the AFC South will be on the line when Houston native Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts shoot for their fourth straight win when they take on the Texans at NRG Stadium. LOS ANGELES -- Yasiel Puig made it a very enjoyable 53rd birthday for Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. Puig hit a three-run homer and threw out a runner at second base, leading Los Angeles over the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 Sunday. Puig connected with two outs following an intentional walk. He flipped his bat after capping a four-run sixth inning against Josh Collmenter (0-2). "Obviously it was a big hit by Yasiel," Mattingly said. "I was hoping it would get up. I knew it was going to get us another run, so it was a good feeling right away." The Diamondbacks walked Adrian Gonzalez with two outs to pitch to Puig. "Its definitely not an easy choice," Arizona catcher Miguel Montero said. "Theyve got a good lineup from top to bottom, so you have to think about who you have to pitch around because theyre all pretty good hitters." "I thought it was a good pitch that we made on Puig, but he just put a good swing on it. We wanted to come inside on him," he said. Puig hit a liner over the fence in left-centre. He hit 19 homers last season as a rookie after coming up to the Dodgers in June. Dodgers starter Josh Beckett pitched five innings of one-hit ball, striking out seven and walking two. Beckett and some of his teammates have been getting intravenous fluids because of a flu bug thats been going around the clubhouse. He wound up with his third no-decision in three starts, with none of them going past the fifth inning. The three-time All-Star righty remained winless since Sept. 30, 2012, when he beat Colorado at Dodger Stadium. Beckett was 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA in eight starts last season before sitting out the final five months because of a groin strain and a subsequent bout with thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve condition that required him to undergo surgery in July. "It would have been nice to go a little deeper, especially with how much the bullpens been used. But I felt like it was probably in the besst interest of the team to not keep going," Beckett said. Rick Barry Jersey. "I felt like Ive done a decent job in my last couple of outings, but I think theres still room for improvement," he said. Jamey Wright (1-0) got three outs for his 93rd career victory, spread over 19 big league seasons and 10 different clubs. Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth for his seventh save and fifth against the Diamondbacks. Chris Perez relieved Wright in the seventh with two on and none out. He retired his first batter, then gave up an RBI double by Eric Chavez. Beckett threw 83 pitches and allowed only a leadoff single to right field in the second by Miguel Montero. But Montero tried to stretch it into a double and was thrown out by Puig. "Obviously, Im not the fastest guy in the world, but he had to make a perfect throw," Montero said. "I could have done a better job going around first base, but I took too wide a turn and lost a couple of steps." The Dodgers broke through in the sixth after Dee Gordon singled and Carl Crawford had a hit-and-run triple into the right field corner. It was Crawfords first triple of the season and 118th of his career, the most among active players. NOTES: For the second time in this series, Arizonas Paul Goldschmidt was awarded first base on catchers interference against Tim Federowicz. ... Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a second-inning double. ... The Diamondbacks upcoming four-game series at Chicago will give pitching coach and former Cub Mike Harkey the opportunity to be at Wrigley Field on Wednesday when the ballparks 100th anniversary is celebrated. Harkey was the fourth overall pick by the Cubs in the 1987 draft and made his first 71 big league starts for them. ... Arizonas catchers are a combined 1 for 20 throwing out opposing basestealers. ... Chavez struck out both times he faced Beckett, and is 4 for 23 lifetime against him with eight Ks. ' ' '