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Less than two weeks had passed since a group of business men scraped together more than $250 million to purchase the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers. The new owners - who include local entrepreneur J. Michael Gearon Jr. and his longtime friend and local attorney J. Rutherford Seydel II - were making the rounds with sports media and making plans to attract fans back to hockey and basketball games.
Then the phone call came in the night.
Thrashers forward Dany Heatley, Most Valuable Player of last year's All-Star Game, had been in a terrible car accident in Buckhead about 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 29 along with teammate Dan Snyder, who was ejected from the Ferrari when it crashed.
Suddenly, Heatley was facing criminal charges related to the accident, and those charges were upgraded to vehicular homicide after Snyder died on Oct. 5.
"It was the worst kind of call you can ever receive," recalled Gearon, an Atlanta native and entrepreneur who received the call from his father, retired developer J. Michael Gearon Sr., who is also a partial owner of the Hawks and Thrashers. "We were all devastated. We still are. Both of these young men were so bright and so talented and such good guys. The whole team is grieving."
The entire Thrashers; team was scheduled to fly to a small town near Toronto where Snyder was raised to attend his funeral Oct. 10. A Fulton County magistrate decided to allow Heatley, who is free on a $50,000 bond, to attend the funeral.
"Even though it's a very painful time, the team is getting closer from it and they are rallying around each other," Gearon said.
Making the deal
Before the accident sent shock waves through the local sports community, the new owners of the Hawks and Thrashers who also purchased the rights to Philips Arena - had been pursuing an ambitious plan to re-energize the teams and draw fans back downtown to attend more games.
Gearon, whose father was a former president of the Hawks and has been chairman of the Hawks' board of directors since 1986, grew up around the team and can quickly recall personal stories or the backgrounds of countless players.
Gearon hung out with players like "Pistol Pete" Maravich...