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Sometimes jokes that you would say around close friends or family, don’t go over so well when told to others and Hawks general manager, Wes Wilcox found that out when he made a bad decision at a “Chalk Talk” event with Hawks season ticket holders.
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Chalk Talk events are basically what teams do when they invite some season ticket holders to have a face to face group meeting with the front office people, which sometimes can include the owner.
In early December, the Hawks held their event and fans were pretty vocal about not being happy with the direction of the franchise. Wilcox, who was trying to keep the mood light and change the atmosphere of the event, decided to tell a joke that he never should’ve said.
“I know you guys may be angry with me but I’m used to it because I have a black wife and three mixed kids, so I’m used to people being angry and argumentative.”
Reportedly, after he said that, the room was pretty much silent with no laughter at all. One fan, Clarenton Crawford, was so upset he decided to email Hawks owner & CEO, Steve Koonin to share his feelings about what he thought was an unacceptable joke.
After allegedly not getting much more than a generic response, Crawford decided to contact him again, which then led to a face to face meeting between Crawford, his wife and Koonin, where the Hawks CEO apologized for Wilcox.
Wilcox actually apologized himself, via a statement that was released on Friday.
“At an early December chalk talk, I made a self-deprecating comment at my own expense regarding my family, which is multi-racial,” Wilcox said in the statement. “This joke offended Mr. Crawford and his wife and for that, I apologize.”
As of now it appears everything is in the past and there will be no punishment towards Wilcox but he better watch what he says going forward because not everyone will be so nice as Mr. Crawford. Someone else in the future may not be willing to just accept an apology.
