Danny Ferry

Danny Ferry
New Orleans Pelicans
Position Special advisor
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1966-10-17) October 17, 1966
Hyattsville, Maryland
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight 230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school DeMatha Catholic
(Hyattsville, Maryland)
College Duke (1985–1989)
NBA draft 1989 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers
Playing career 1989–2003
Position Power forward / Small forward
Career history
1989–1990 Il Messaggero Roma
1990–2000 Cleveland Cavaliers
2000–2003 San Antonio Spurs
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 6,439 (7.0 ppg)
Rebounds 2,550 (2.8 rpg)
Assists 1,185 (1.3 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  United States
Summer Universiade
1987 Zagreb National team

Daniel John Willard "Danny" Ferry (born October 17, 1966) is an American retired professional basketball player and former general manager of the Atlanta Hawks . He is also the former Vice President of Basketball Operations for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] Ferry was considered one of the most celebrated basketball athletes in the United States from the high school class of 1985 and during his 1988–89 senior year at Duke University.[2] Known for his superb outside shooting, strong rebounding abilities and full-court vision while in college,[3] the All-American led the Duke Blue Devils to three Final Four appearances while setting many school records and earning several national player of the year awards.[4]

Drafted into the NBA in 1989 as the second overall pick in the draft, Ferry would go on to spend the majority of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers where he became the team's all-time leader in games played (723 games) until Žydrūnas Ilgauskas surpassed his record on December 2, 2009.[5] Danny Ferry is ranked among the top 50 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) men's basketball players of all-time as well as one of Duke's top basketball players in the school's history.

Early life

Ferry was born in Hyattsville, Maryland[4] to former NBA center and NBA executive Bob Ferry.[4] The younger Ferry began his basketball career in earnest at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland where he excelled at the high school level under Morgan Wootten. The two-time All-American was ranked as one of the country's top high school basketball centers[2] while at DeMatha and earned Parade Magazine's prep Player of the Year in 1985.[6] Ferry was one of the most highly recruited high school seniors in the nation before committing to Duke University. Ferry is of Irish descent – his great great grandfather Peter Ferry was born in the "Irish Free State" in 1828 and emigrated to St. Louis, Missouri.[7]

College career

Ferry attended Duke University and played basketball for the school over four seasons from 1985 to 1989. During his college career, he helped lead the Blue Devils to the Final Four in 1986, 1988 and 1989, twice winning the MVP award for the East Regional. He was selected to the first team All-America in 1989 and second-team All-America in 1988. Ferry still holds Duke's all-time single game scoring record, scoring 58 points against Miami on December 10, 1988.[8] He is among Duke's greatest players of all time, ranking 6th in career points, 8th in career rebounds, and 7th in career assists–the only player in the top 10 of all three categories.[9] Ferry became the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) history to collect more than 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in his collegiate career.[4] He left Duke with several national player of the year awards under his belt, including the Naismith College Player of the Year,[4] USBWA College Player of the Year (Oscar Robertson Trophy)[10] and the UPI player of the year awards. Ferry's number 35 was retired in 1989 at the end of his senior season.[11] In 2002, Ferry was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team honoring the fifty greatest players in ACC history.

Professional career

Italy

After college, the Los Angeles Clippers drafted Ferry in the first round (second overall pick) of the 1989 NBA draft; he did not want to play with the Clippers,[12] and Ferry soon afterwards accepted an offer to play for the Italian league's Il Messaggero (now Virtus Roma) instead. Ferry made a name for himself overseas as he averaged 23 points and six rebounds per game during the 1989–90 season, leading the Italian club into the playoffs.[4] The Clippers traded Ferry's rights on November 16, 1989, along with Reggie Williams to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for high-scoring guard Ron Harper, two first-round draft picks and a second-round pick.[4][13]

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers signed Ferry to a 10-year guaranteed contract. He had a decent career in Cleveland, but he never became the type of star the Cavs were hoping for based on his outstanding play for Duke.[12] His best season in Cleveland came in 1995–96, when he averaged 13.3 ppg. He had only one other season in which he averaged double figures.

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs signed Ferry as a free agent on August 10, 2000. Accepting a role as an off-the-bench shooter with the Spurs, Ferry played for San Antonio through the 2002–03 season.

Management career

Ferry signed on to work at the middle management level in the Spurs' front office shortly after retiring as a player from 2003–2005. On June 27, 2005 the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Danny Ferry to a 5-year contract worth close to US$10 million as their eighth general manager.[13] Ferry began his management tenure with the Cavaliers overseeing a series of less than optimal transactions.[14] Nonetheless the team flourished with superstar LeBron James and newly installed head coach Mike Brown at the helm as the team made a series of serious postseason runs beginning in 2006. Ferry, Brown and Cavaliers' majority owner Dan Gilbert began to add talent and depth to the Cavs' roster, notably acquiring one-time All-Star guard Mo Williams, former All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal, starting shooting guard Anthony Parker, Leon Powe, former All-Star Antawn Jamison and re-signing veteran center Žydrūnas Ilgauskas between 2008–2010.[14] The personnel shuffling paid off in the 2008–09 season when Cleveland not only won its first Central Division title since 1976 but also, for the first time ever, finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference as well as the league overall. In the 2009–10 season Cleveland repeated these feats, with the NBA's best record for the second consecutive season.[13]

On June 4, 2010, it was announced that Ferry and the Cavaliers had come to a mutual agreement to part ways.[15] Ferry had one month left on his contract. The Cavaliers went 272-138 under Ferry.

In late August, he returned to the Spurs as the vice president of basketball operations.[16]

On June 25, 2012, he accepted a position as the president of basketball operations and general manager for the Atlanta Hawks.

On June 18, 2015, Ferry reached a buyout agreement with the Atlanta Hawks.

Controversy

In June 2014, Ferry "read aloud verbatim an 'offensive' comment written in a scouting report"[17] during a conference call about Miami Heat player Luol Deng. Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. called for him to resign or be dismissed. On September 9, Hawks' CEO, Steve Koonin, announced that they had decided not to dismiss Ferry and that they were instead going to discipline him.[18] A few days later, Ferry asked to take—and was approved for—an immediate, indefinite leave of absence from his duties.[19] An independent investigation resulted in Ferry being absolved of any racial or ethnic wrongdoings. "The investigation, which included 19 witness interviews and reviewed the contents of more than 24,000 emails, made clear that the offensive language was not Ferry's and none of Ferry's remarks or behavior during the call were motivated by racial or ethnic animus, or by a person's country of origin. To the contrary, the investigation found Ferry shared his own opinion of Deng, recommended him both personally and professionally and ultimately tried to sign him to the team."[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Spurs Name Danny Ferry Vice President of Basketball Operations. Retrieved on August 27, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM: DEMATHA ROUTS HENRY CLAY". Lexington Herald-Leader. 1984-12-23. p. C6. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  3. ↑ Wilstein, Steve (1989-04-03). "A Painful Ending For Duke's Ferry". The Dispatch. p. 11. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "1990–91 Hoops - Danny Ferry". Hoops. NBA Properties, Inc. 1990. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  5. ↑ Beaven, Chris (2009-12-02). "Ilgauskas finally has his record day as Cavs rout Suns". The Repository. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  6. ↑ "Ferry Signs With Blue Devils". The Dispatch. Associated Press. 1985-04-03. p. 10. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  7. ↑ http://familyhistoryinsider.com/atlanta-hawks-gm-danny-ferry-has-got-some-irish-in-him/
  8. ↑ Duke Report. Duke Single Game Records. USA Today. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
  9. ↑ Duke Report. Duke Basketball Career Leaders. USA Today. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
  10. ↑ The Oscar Robertson Trophy
  11. ↑ Danny Ferry
  12. 1 2 "SI.com". CNN.
  13. 1 2 3 "Cavaliers: Front Office". NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  14. 1 2 RC-Staff (2010-03-03). "Magical deals become norm for Cavs' GM Danny Ferry". The Repository. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  15. ↑ Cleveland Cavaliers and General Manager Danny Ferry Announce They Will Not Enter Into a New Contract, NBA.com/Cavaliers
  16. ↑ Spurs Name Danny Ferry Vice President of Basketball Operations
  17. ↑ SBNation (7 September 2014). "GM Danny Ferry will be disciplined by Hawks in relation to Bruce Levenson email investigation". SBNation. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  18. ↑ Odum, Charles (9 September 2014). "Hawks discipline GM Ferry for racist comments". Miami Herald. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  19. ↑ ESPN.com news services (12 September 2014). "Danny Ferry takes leave of absence". ESPN. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "Ferry resigns, cleared of racial remarks". United Press International. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.

External links

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