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." Nike Air Max 97 Schweiz .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Nike Air Max Plus Günstig .Do you have to be that close? Federer snapped at a TV cameraman hovering nearby as he received medical advice after losing a set on Wednesday.For Nadal and Sharapova, the nuisance was coming from the lowly-ranked qualifiers across the net. http://www.shopairmaxschweiz.com/air-max-95-fake-kaufen.html. 25 against Miami. Hillis left Browns Stadium about two hours before kickoff, a decision that has led to speculation he was upset over ongoing negotiations with the club on a contract extension. Vapormax 2019 Günstig . The Brazilian heads into Saturday afternoons race coming off a close runner-up finish to Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Indianapolis 500. Nike Air Max 98 Schweiz . - Jordan Addesis shootout goal helped the Plymouth Whalers to a 3-2 win over the Sault Ste.Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Victor Oladipo put the exclamation point on an Orlando Magic upset win with a highlight-reel 360-degree dunk in the final minute. It also put the finishing touches on a great all-around performance from the blossoming second-year guard. Oladipo finished with 32 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals as the Magic beat the Houston Rockets 120-113 on Wednesday night. Nik Vucevic posted 25 points and 12 rebounds, while rookie point guard Elfrid Payton added 15 points, six boards and four assists for the Magic, who have won back-to-back games on the heels of a six-game losing streak. James Harden had 26 points, 10 assists and five steals for Houston, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Dwight Howard supplied 23 points and eight boards against his former team Howard had been averaging 24.8 points and 16.5 rebounds per game in four prior meetings against Orlando since being traded by the Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2012. A Trevor Ariza 3-pointer and a short Donatas Motiejunas jumper on consecutive Houston possessions staked it tto a 107-104 advantage with 2:42 left, but Orlando ripped off the next seven points.dddddddddddd. A pair of Payton layups preceded a Channing Frye triple as Orlando established a 111-107 cushion with 1:20 remaining. Harden found Motiejunas at the other end for a layup before a Vucevic 3-point play and Oladipos emphatic slam sealed the outcome. Earlier, Frye nailed two treys and the Magic raced off to an 11-2 start. Orlando led 29-19 following a quarter of play, but Houston used a 13-4 run to begin the second and claw within 33-32. Patrick Beverley hit a triple in the waning seconds of the opening half to get the Rockets within 55-52 heading into the break. Hardens layup in the final minute of the third quarter helped Houston go into the final frame with an 85-84 edge. Game Notes Orlandos Tobias Harris missed his third consecutive game with an ankle injury ... The Rockets fell to 11-4 against Eastern Conference opponents, including 6-2 on the road ... Houston dropped to 19-4 when Harden scores at least 25 points ... Orlando netted 26 points off 21 Houston turnovers. ' ' '