Atlanta Hawks' minority owner Michael Gearon sent a two-page letter to Bruce Levenson on June 12, which in part called for the firing of Danny Ferry, according to a report citing the document.

In the letter, Gearon is quoted as saying, “We are calling on you, as majority owner and NBA governor, to take swift and severe action against general manager Danny Ferry. Our advisors tell us there is no other choice to ask for Ferry's resignation and if he refuses, to terminate him for cause under his employment contract.”

The letter started an internal investigation that eventually revealed the 2012 email from Leveson and the inappropriate and offense comments regarding African-Americans who attend games at Philips Arena.
 
Gearon wrote the letter after Ferry, on a conference call with management and ownership, described free agent target Luol Deng “he has a little African in him, not in a bad way, but he's a guy who would have a nice store out front, but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back."