Sources: GM Danny Ferry's reference to Luol Deng's African heritage initiated Hawks investigation

The trigger of events that led to the toppling of Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson began with general manager Danny Ferry referring to free agent Luol Deng as having "some African in him" on an organizational conference call, league sources with direct knowledge of the probe told Yahoo Sports.

"He's still a young guy overall," Ferry said, league sources with direct knowledge of the probe told Yahoo. “He's a good guy overall. But he's not perfect. He's got some African in him. And I don't say that in a bad way."

Deng, considered one of the highest-character players in the NBA, was born in the Sudan.

The call with the ownership group had been set up to inform them of free-agent options on the market in July.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--gm-danny-ferry-s-reference-to-luol-deng-s-african-heritage-initiated-hawks-investigation-162901096.html