Danny Ferry occupied his time while on indefinite leave of absence as general manager of the Atlanta Hawks. Went to his daughter's travel swim meets. Attended basketball games at his kids' high school. Supported friend and former Duke Blue Devils teammate and Harvard coach Tommy Amaker at an NCAA Tournament game in Jacksonville. Went to Houston to watch Duke play in the regional finals. He visited with family and friends and watched a lot of basketball, including the Atlanta Hawks. Ferry kept a low profile the minute he took the leave as general manager of the Hawks after he uttered insensitive comments about then-free agent Luol Deng during a conference call with team executives a year ago. "I made a mistake. I take full responsibility for that," Ferry told USA TODAY Sports, some of his first public comments to reporters since he reached a buyout agreement with the franchise that was finalized on Friday and announced by the Hawks on Monday. "But I've learned a lot. I'll be better at what I do going forward – whatever that is – because of this experience and the things I've learned through it all." During that conference call, Ferry said Deng "is 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 other than ... he has a storefront out front that's beautiful and great but he may be selling some counterfeit stuff behind you." First the text was leaked and then the audio recording was released – the Hawks on Monday called it an unauthorized release – and ever since Ferry understood his name and reputation were in question. - See more at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...r-danny-ferry-relief-moving-forward/29115275/
