The New Orleans Pelicans announced Danny Ferry as their new hire on Wednesday as a special advisor to the team.

GM Dell Demps was reportedly urging for the hire to take place, since he had previously worked closely with Ferry in San Antonio. Ferry’s more recent positions include the Atlanta Hawks and the mid-2000s Cleveland Cavaliers teams.

Ferry took an indefinite leave of absence as Hawks GM and president of basketball operations, when a recording of him reading a scouting report about Luol Deng leaked that appeared to contain racist undertones.

Ferry has since been cleared of any wrong doings in a legal investigation, and was found innocent of any racial motivations.

Ferry gave an interview to David Aldridge on NBATV and had this to say:

“I can't control what everyone out there believes. I think most people, if they've looked at this, they've heard people that have known me for 30 years, they've looked at my background, they've looked at my life, and hopefully used all that information when they make their decision. But I can't control what everyone looks at and how much they look at this whole story. And that hurts, that's sad to me, because I really am proud of being part of this melting pot of the NBA throughout my life – not just my career, but my life.”

“There's a lot of things that have humbled me through this whole thing. You know, how quickly things can change, and your world can change. But the fact that I had friends, I had players – our players – speak up and say, ‘This isn't what we know, and we've never experienced this, and he's been good to us, and I know this person.' And that was humbling, because they didn't have to, and they did. And I'm forever appreciative.”

Ferry since has only applied for two vacancies in the NBA, that were eventually filled and is now at the place where the entire situation is behind him.

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