In the summer of 2005, the Atlanta Hawks finalized a trade with the Phoenix Suns to obtain shooting guard Joe Johnson for Boris Diaw and two protected future first-round picks.
On December 23, 2010, the group led by Gearon and Levenson announced they had bought out Belkin's ownership share in Atlanta Spirit LLC.
He opted to share the e-mail with the NBA in July 2014, during the lawsuits that led the league to take the Los Angeles Clippers from Donald Sterling, as the emergence of such a discrimination-related debacle made Levenson "remorseful for using those hurtful words".
[8] On January 2, 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that all partners in the ownership group would join Levenson and sell their minority stakes, effectively putting the entire franchise up for sale.
[9] On April 22, 2015, Atlanta Hawks, LLC reached a tentative agreement to sell the team and arena operating rights to a group led by Tony Ressler for $850 million.