Scouting report on Deng released: 'He is a good guy on the cover but he's an African'

The scouting report from which Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry was reading when he made racially insensitive comments about Luol Deng on a conference call has surfaced.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained the scouting report of then free agent-target Deng that made reference to the 10-year veteran having "some African in him." The document released includes multiple reports that seem to disagree with any negative assessment of Deng, but one particular report - filed on June 6, 2014 and attributed to an unnamed front office person - stated the following:

"He's a good guy on the cover but he's an African. he has a little two-step in him = says what you like to hear but behind closed doors he could be killing you. Con isn't bad but it's there. African-like, store front looks great but there's a black market section in the back....

"He complained about things like not enough team jerseys in the team store, or that his bobble head was last during the year. He has some con and a sense of entitlement."

Elsewhere in that same report, the source says "when we got him, Chicago had run him into the ground," indicating that the report came from the Cleveland Cavaliers organization. The Cavaliers acquired Deng from the Bulls on Jan. 6.

Ferry has said he was reading off a report when he said the following about Deng on the conference call, of which audio has surfaced (see two posts below):

"He's 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's a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.

"For example, he can come out and be an unnamed source for a story and two days later come out and say, 'That absolutely was not me. I can't believe someone said that.'"

The report surfacing lends additional context to the situation.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated Wednesday that he didn't believe Ferry's comments regarding Deng merit him losing his job, and reports indicate Silver has heard the audio of Ferry.

For the complete scouting profile on Deng, tap here.