Miami Heat forward Luol Deng issued a strong response to the controversial statement made by Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry in June.

Hawks minority owner Michael Gearon Jr. asked majority owner Bruce Levenson to fire Ferry after the GM uttered racial slur against Deng, saying that the veteran forward "has a little African in him" and that the All-Star is like "a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back."

Responding to Ferry's controversial "scouting report" on him, Deng said that he is proud of being an African, saying that it has been his source of pride for his entire life and NBA career.

"These words were recently used to describe me. It would ordinarily make any African parent proud to hear their child recognized for their heritage," Deng said in a statement via ESPN. "I'm proud to say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just 'a little.' For my entire life, my identity has been a source of pride and strength."

Without mentioning Ferry and the Hawks, Deng expressed disappointment that his African ties was mentioned during a business meeting, insisting that a team should not use a player's race as a factor in making basketball decisions.

"Concerning my free agency, the focus should purely have been on my professionalism and my ability as an athlete," Deng said. "Every person should have the right to be treated with respect and evaluated as an individual, rather than be reduced to a stereotype. I am saddened and disappointed that this way of thinking still exists today."

Ferry, who was highly criticized for his actions with some saying that it is worse than Donald Sterling's racist remarks, recent issued a public apology, while also revealing that he called Deng to personally apologize about his statement.

"Those words do not reflect my views, or words that I would use to describe an individual and I certainly regret it," Ferry said. "I am committed to learning from this and deeply regret this situation."

Despite the call for resignation and firing, including one from Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin recently announced that Ferry will remains as the team's general manager.

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