ATLANTA -- Less than one month after the Clippers sale ended Donald Sterlings ugly downfall, another NBA team is on the market following a racially charged disclosure from its owner. Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson said Sunday he is selling his controlling interest in the team, thanks in part to an inflammatory email he wrote two years ago. Levenson said he wrote the email in an attempt to bridge Atlantas racial sports divide. Instead, he offered his divisive comments, including his theory that Hawks black fans kept white fans away. Levenson said he regrets the email sent to the teams co-owners and general manager Danny Ferry in 2012 as inappropriate and offensive. In a statement released by the team, Levenson said he sent the email due to his concerns about low attendance and a need to attract suburban whites. He says he later realized the email made it seem white fans were more important. He voluntarily reported the email to the NBA. I have said repeatedly that the NBA should have zero tolerance for racism, and I strongly believe that to be true, Levenson said in the statement. That is why I voluntarily reported my inappropriate email to the NBA. After much long and difficult contemplation, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the team, the Atlanta community, and the NBA to sell my controlling interest in the Hawks franchise. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday the league will work with the Hawks ownership group and CEO Steve Koonin, who now will oversee all team operations. Silver said the leagues independent investigation regarding the circumstances of Mr. Levensons comments in the email was ongoing when he was told Saturday night of Levensons plan to sell his share of the team. Silver said he supported Levensons decision. As Mr. Levenson acknowledged, the views he expressed are entirely unacceptable and are in stark contrast to the core principles of the National Basketball Association, Silver said. He shared with me how truly remorseful he is for using those hurtful words and how apologetic he is to the entire NBA family -- fans, players, team employees, business partners and fellow team owners -- for having diverted attention away from our game. I commend Mr. Levenson for self-reporting to the league office, for being fully co-operative with the league and its independent investigator, and for putting the best interests of the Hawks, the Atlanta community, and the NBA first. Sterling was forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers after a recording surfaced in April of the owner scolding his girlfriend for bringing black men to Clippers games. Steve Ballmer officially became the teams new owner on Aug. 12. In the email sent in August 2012, Levenson said southern whites were uncomfortable at games. My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base, Levenson said in the email released Sunday by the Hawks. Please dont get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arena back then. I never felt uncomfortable, but I think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. Levenson said Hawks crowds were 70 per cent black, the teams cheerleaders were black and hip-hop music was played. Then I start looking around at other arenas, Levenson said. It is completely different. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Atlantas population was 54 per cent black and 38.4-per cent white in 2010. For metro Atlanta, the ratio is 55.4 per cent white and 32.4 per cent black. Levenson said he often heard fans say the area around Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta is dangerous. This was just racist garbage, Levenson said. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games. Though he said he disagreed with the conclusion, he said he told team executives to add white cheerleaders and music familiar to a 40-year-old white guy. Added Levenson in the email: I have even (complained) that the kiss cam is too black. Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed said the comments in Levensons email were reprehensible and offensive. The statements do not represent the city of Atlantas history of diversity and inclusion, and we will be clear and deliberate in denouncing and repudiating them, Reed said. I applaud the NBAs efforts to enforce a no-tolerance policy of discrimination. As a city, we will continue to stand behind the Atlanta Hawks organization as they work to find new ownership that reflects the values and ideals of a city that is too busy to hate. The Rev. Al Sharpton released a statement encouraging Silver to continue vetting all owners. The announcement by Bruce Levenson is welcomed and appropriate by those of us in the civil rights community, that raised the issue of Donald Sterlings need to be removed, and that other owners must be held accountable, Sharpton said. Though the NBA investigation of the email was ongoing, Levenson apparently concluded he couldnt continue in his ownership role. If youre angry about what I wrote, you should be, Levenson said in Sundays statement. Im angry at myself, too. It was inflammatory nonsense. 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. This is not Levensons first effort to sell the team. In 2011, the Hawks ownership group, headed by Levenson and Michael Gearon Jr., made an unsuccessful attempt to sell to California developer and pizza chain owner Alex Meruelo. The group acquired the Hawks and the NHL Thrashers from Time Warner in 2004. The Thrashers were sold and moved to Winnipeg in 2011. Air Max 97 Pas Cher Chine .Former NBA forward Morris Peterson has been added to TSNs Toronto Raptors broadcast team. Air Max 95 Pas Cher Chine .Former NBA forward Morris Peterson has been added to TSNs Toronto Raptors broadcast team. http://www.maxnikepascher.fr/. The photograph shows Parker and a French comedian making a gesture known in France as a "quenelle," which critics describe as inverted Nazi salute. Parker said in a statement released through the Spurs that the photograph was taken three years ago. Parker, who was born in Belgium but raised in France, said he didnt know at the time that "it could be in any way offensive or harmful. Air Max 97 Pas Cher Solde . Betancourt was 2-5 with a 4.08 ERA and 16 saves for the Rockies last season before tearing a ligament in his pitching elbow. He considered undergoing platelet-rich plasma therapy to fix his arm, but announced in August his decision to have Tommy John surgery. Air Max 90 Essential Solde .C. -- Benn Ferrieros familiar with scoring important goals, just not in back-to-back games.Kaupulehu-Kona, HI (SportsNetwork.com) - Rocco Mediate carded a first-round, 6-under 66 on Friday and he holds a 1-shot lead at the Champions Tours season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship. Mediate is looking to start the 2015 season with a victory after going winless in 2014. Mediates two wins on the Champions Tour both came in 2013. Hes also won six times in his career on the PGA Tour. Corey Pavin began the week with a 5-under 67 at Hualalai Golf Club and he is alone in second place followed by seven players at 4-under. Six-time major champion Tom Watson headlines the group of players two shots behind the leader at 4-under 68. The 65-year-old Watson is tied for third with Esteban Toledo, Paul Goydos, Bart Bryant, Olin Browne, John Cook and Wes Short, Jr. Defending champion Bernhard Langer, who is coming off a five-win season in 2014, ended the first round tied for 25th at even-par 72. Mediate took control early on as he poured in three birdies on his first four holes at one three and four. Following a pair of pars on five and six, Mediate drained his fourth gain on No. 7. Two holes later, Mediate stumbled to a bogey on No. 9 and he made the turn at 3-under. An eagle on the par-5 10th hole got Mediate right back on track. He then ran off three straight pars from 11 before making another birdie on No. 14, moving him to 6-under. After trading a bogey on No. 16 for a birdie on No. 17, Mediate closed things out with a par at the last to grab the early lead in the season-opening event. I made a bunch of putts today, said Mediate. It was one of those days, had a ball today. It was great playing with Tom (Watson). I like the place. I always have.dddddddddddd Love the golf course. It fits my eye. Pavin had a strong front nine followed by an up-and-down back nine on day one. A birdie at the first got Pavin going, and after four straight pars from two he rolled in back-to-back gains on six and seven. Pavin made the turn with a pair of pars on eight and nine. Just like Mediate, Pavin drained an eagle on the par-5 10th to move his score to 5-under. A bogey on 11 gave one of those shots back, but Pavin responded three holes later with his fourth birdie on No. 14. Pavin played his final four holes at even par after making a bogey on 16 and a birdie at the last. Without one disastrous hole, Langer could very well be near the top of the leaderboard. A trio of birdies from three had the defending champion rolling, but two holes later Langer made a mess of No. 7. Langers second shot on seven found a waste area with hardened lava and rocks. Instead of taking an unplayable drop, Langer attempted to punch the ball out. After taking four swings and unable to get the ball out, Langers club hit the ball twice on his seventh shot, resulting in a 1-stroke penalty. He wound up two-putting from there for a 10 on the par-5. Langer made two more birdies on 10 and 16. Besides the seventh hole, Langer played the other 17 at 5-under. NOTES: Mediate won at the Allianz Championship and the Shaw Charity Classic in 2013, his rookie season on the Champions Tour ... Pavin also won the Allianz Championship in 2012, his lone win on tour ... Watsons last victory came at the 2011 Senior PGA Championship ... Of the 40 players in the field, only 12 of them finished their first round above par. ' ' '