The Atlanta Hawks have been absolutely sizzling during the first half of this NBA season, entering the All-Star break at 43-11, the league's second-best record.

Their only blemish this season has come off the court via owner Bruce Levenson announcing his selling of the team after a leaked racist email and questionable comments that general manager Danny Ferry made about Luol Deng.

Well, former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young thinks that Ferry should be able to rejoin the team as the franchise's GM, adding that he doesn't think Ferry is a racist at all. 

"No more than I am," Young told local Atlanta television station WSB on Tuesday, as reported by ESPN. "That's a word that you cannot define, 'You are a racist.' You can't grow up white in America without having some problems. You can't grow up Black in America without having some subtle feelings."

Ferry took a leave of absence last September shortly after news broke about his questionable comments made about then-free agent Deng during an organizational conference call.

Ferry said Deng "has a little African in him" during the call and that, "He's like a guy who would have a nice store out front and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back." After the news initially broke, Ferry claimed to have simply been reading the comments off a scouting report.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he thought Ferry shouldn't be fired and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson added that he deserves another chance after meeting with the former player. But Ferry hasn't returned from his leave of absence and the Hawks' GM duties are currently being handled by assistant general manager Wes Wilcox. 

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(Photos from left: Paras Griffin/FilmMagic, Lance King/Getty Images)