Some of this is still developing but its sounds like now, the whole "scouting report being read by Ferry" was damage control and it was Ferry's own words on a conference call with the double digit ownership group of the Hawks. Even if there was chatter from some people in the league that runs counter to Dengs reputation, there would be so many more appropriate ways to say that you think someone may be "fake", "disengenuous" etc. To bring in racial stereotypes rather than just make the assertion about the man/individual is unnecessary, demeaning, revealing, and just plain stupid of Ferry.
The letter Atlanta based minority owner Gearon wrote(linked a few posts up by Damage) succinctly sums up why it's not only an inappropriate thing for Ferry to say, but why, as comments made during the course of the organization conducting business vs Sterlings private comments, it would be massively harmful to the Hawks as an organization both in the court of of public opinion but also potentially legally(especially now when paired up with Levensons earlier e-mail about the fanbase.