ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks cancelled a scheduled meeting between their CEO and city civil rights leaders Wednesday, prompting one of the groups leaders to say his community was greatly offended. The Rev. Markel Hutchins said the meeting with CEO Steve Koonin was called off at the last minute. He later said he received a call from Hawks spokesman Garin Narain on Tuesday night asking the appointment be postponed. Hutchins said he needed to hear that request from Koonin, and because Koonin didnt personally cancel the meeting, the group of 12 civil rights leaders showed up as planned. When they entered Philips Arena and were told there would be no meeting, Hutchins and the other leaders said they were insulted. The entire civil rights community, locally and nationally, have been offended, the likes of which we have not seen in this community in decades, Hutchins said. The group asked for the meeting to discuss what Hutchins said was the Hawks disrespect for people of colour. The request followed racially charged comments by Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson and general manager Danny Ferry. In a statement Wednesday, the Hawks asked for patience from the community and said they want to reschedule the meeting. Koonin postponed todays meeting last night, the Hawks statement said. This conversation is a priority for us. We are committed to having this meeting and will work with community leaders to reschedule as soon as possible. We ask our community to work with us, be patient with us, and help us heal. The Hawks did not say why the meeting was cancelled. Levenson said Sunday he will sell his majority share of the team. Koonin said Tuesday Ferry has been punished but wont be fired. Hutchins said when he arranged the meeting with Koonin on Monday night, he made it clear the group wanted Ferry to lose his job. Perhaps one of the reasons why they cancelled the meeting is we made it very clear we were going to demand in our conversations that Danny Ferry be fired or resign, Hutchins said. There is no way that a man who uses the kind of language and holds the kind of sentiments that he does should be the general manager of the basketball team in the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the cradle of the civil rights movement. Others also have called for Ferry to be fired. Former NBA great Magic Johnson said late Tuesday on his Twitter feed Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry should step down after making racist statements about NBA player Luol Deng. Deng and Ferry are former Duke players under Mike Krzyzewski, who is coaching the U.S. team at the World Cup. Krzyzewski said he couldnt comment on the controversy involving his former players because he hasnt followed the news. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, serving as an assistant on the U.S. team, defended Deng on Wednesday. Ive never been around a better person, Thibodeau said. Hes not only a great basketball player, hes an even better person. Ill stand by Luol any day. Hes good. Hes done a lot of great things in the community. Hes a great human being. Hes a very humble guy. He has a lot of integrity. I cant say enough good things about him. ... It was a privilege for me to be his coach. Thibodeau said he cant imagine why Ferry made the statements. Ferry made inflammatory comments about Deng in a conference call with the Hawks ownership group in June when the team pursued Deng as a free agent. Ferry described Deng as someone who has a little African in him. Deng, who was born in what is now South Sudan, now plays for the Miami Heat. He responded to Ferrys comment on Tuesday by saying, Im proud to say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just a little. A letter from co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. to Levenson recommended that Ferry resign or be fired. Gearon said Ferry made that description of Deng to the teams ownership group. Gearons June 12 letter to Levenson said Ferry went on to say, Not in a bad way, but hes like a guy who would have a nice store out front and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back. Added Gearon: Ferry completed the racial slur by describing the player (and impliedly all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat. Cyber Monday Air Jordan . Smiths former Atlanta teammates were glad to hang on for an ugly win. Air Jordan Black Friday .C. -- The Charlotte Bobcats said head coach Steve Clifford underwent a successful procedure Friday to have two stents placed in his heart. https://www.fakejordanwholesale.com/ . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Duck Calling With several marquee centres available via trade and expected to be available via free agency, the Anaheim Ducks could be primed to be big players in the coming days. Clearance Air Jordan . In fact, with a few improvements, this could very well be a decent team over the next few seasons. I will go into more detail when digging into the Canucks Off-Season Game Plan, which will be coming earlier this year since they are part of the non-playoff contingent, there are some reasons to think this is a favourable situation for President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden and whomever he selects to be the new general manager. Discount Air Jordan .com) - Troy Brouwer scored the game-winning goal with just 12.ATLANTA -- For Ryan Doumit, the wait was agonizing. Imagine how the Milwaukee Brewers were feeling. Doumits pinch-hit single brought home two runs after the Brewers summoned a relief pitcher who had not even been warming up, capping a three-run seventh inning that carried the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 victory Thursday night. Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke told the umpires that Will Smith would take the mound in a double switch, even though Smith had not thrown at all in the bullpen. After a lengthy delay while the umpires tried to sort things out, even getting on the headsets to talk with the video review centre in New York, Smith was forced to face Doumit after tossing only the customary eight warm-up pitches. Doumit fouled a ball off each foot before ripping a single to left, bringing home the tying and go-ahead runs. "It was a painful at-bat," he said, "but a good result." The Brewers were down two coaches, and that certainly affected their game protocol. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Lee Tunnell were both excused to attend graduations, and Rick Tomlin, normally the minor league pitching co-ordinator, filled in for Kranitz. "My fault. Miscommunication," Roenicke said. "Theres a certain way we do things, and when Kranitz isnt here, I didnt go back and tell Rick Tomlin who to get up and bring in. Its my fault." The Braves trailed 4-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth. B.J. Upton hit a two-out homer, barely clearing the right-field wall, and the Braves rallied for the win the next inning. Gerald Laird also had a key hit, a run-scoring double that ricocheted off an infielders glove. Jean Segura had three hits for Milwaukee and scored two runs, driven home both times by two-out hits from Jonathan Lucroy. Alex Wood (4-5) worked a scoreless inning for the win, and Craig Kimbrel earned his 12th save. Brandon Kintzler (1-2) took the loss, failing to retire the only batter he faced. Chris Johnson started the Atlanta seventh with a single. Dan Uggla, in a rare start, singled to left after fouling off three pitches to keep the at-bat alive. Kintzler took over for starter Matt Garza, but Laird ripped one off the glove of third baseman Mark Reynolds, the ball rolling into short left fielld.dddddddddddd A run scored, and Laird hustled to second for a double that barely got out of the infield. Then things really went haywire for the Brewers. After the botched pitching change, Milwaukee pulled in the infield, hoping to cut off the tying run at the plate. Doumit foiled that strategy by lining one past the shortstop, bringing home both Uggla and Laird. Doumit was frustrated with all the delays in the game, which dragged on for 3 hours, 36 minutes and featured three overturned replay calls, not to mention the confusion over Milwaukees pitching change. "Theres a certain pace to the game," Doumit said. "As a player, I dont like waiting around." The Braves would go on to load the bases with one out, extending the rally after yet another video review. Scooter Gennett made a brilliant backhanded stop on Jason Heywards grounder and flipped the ball in one motion to the shortstop Segura, who came off the bag quickly to make a throw to first. That was too late to get Heyward, and the Brewers wound up with no outs on the play when Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez challenged the call. The replay showed Seguras foot came off the bag a split-second before he squeezed the ball in his glove. The Braves failed to take advantage of the overturned call. Smith struck out Freddie Freeman with the bases loaded, and Rob Wooten came in to fan Justin Upton to end the threat. It didnt matter. Dave Carpenter worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Kimbrel worked around a hit batter to lead off the ninth, striking out the side. Garza went 6 1-3 innings, giving up five hits and four runs. Logan Schafers squeeze bunt brought in another Milwaukee run, and Khris Davis finished off Atlanta starter Aaron Harang with an RBI single in the sixth. Harang allowed nine hits and all four Brewers runs in 5 1-3 innings. Notes: Milwaukee slugger Ryan Braun left the game in the fifth because of tightness in his right side. ... Uggla also had a walk and scored two runs in only his second start since May 6. ... Gavin Floyd (0-1) will go against Colorados Jordan Lyles (5-1) on Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Turner Field. The Brewers head to Miami, where Marco Estrada (3-2) will take the mound against Tom Koehler (4-3) of the Marlins. ' ' '