Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry is taking an indefinite leave of absence, according to a statement made by Hawks CEO Steve Koonin. Ferry has been embroiled in a scandal over a racist comment he made about free agent Luol Deng during a conference call in June. Koonin wrote that “while the issues related to race are deeply troubling, at the heart of this dispute is an unfortunate disagreement amongst owners.” Ferry also released a statement of his own, sort-of-apologizing to Deng. “As I have said, while these were not my words, I deeply regret repeating them,” Ferry wrote. “Almost all the background information I provided during the lengthy presentation regarding Luol was positive and my personal and professional recommendation during the call was very much in favor of adding Luol to our team but I never should have uttered those offensive remarks and for that I apologize.”