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The Week That Was: Billups retires, Hawks rocked by scandals, U.S. golden

Raj Mehta / USA Today Sports

Welcome to The Week That Was, where we recap the newsworthy happenings in the NBA over the past seven days. 

Hawks front office rocked by racism scandals

The Atlanta Hawks' front office is due for a major shakeup after a pair of scandals involving racist comments made by GM Danny Ferry and part owner Bruce Levenson came to light over the past two weeks.

Levenson, who made a number of insensitive remarks in an email sent to his employees in 2012, agreed to sell his share of the team.

The news was followed by the revelation that Ferry used the phrase "has a lot of African in him" to describe then-free agent Luol Deng. Ferry has since agreed to take an indefinite leave of absence, while a number of prominent African voices in the NBA community, including Deng himself, have issued responses to the matter.

Mr. Big Shot retires

After 17 years in the NBA, five-time All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups decided it was time to hang up his sneakers and retire. As Billups told Yahoo Sports:

My mind and my desire is still strong. I just can't ignore the fact that I haven't been healthy for three years. I can try again and get to a point where I think I can go, but I just can't sustain. Me not being able to play the way that I can play, that's when you kind of know it's that time ...

Billups averaged 15.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game over his illustrious career. He led the Detroit Pistons to a championship in 2004 and played for seven different teams. 

Cavaliers officially sign Shawn Marion

The Cleveland Cavaliers officially added forward Shawn Marion to the mix on Tuesday. 

The 36-year-old is no longer the athletic wonder he once was as a member of the Phoenix Suns, but remains effective even in the twilight of his career. Marion averaged 10.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game with the Mavericks last season.

In Cleveland, Marion figures to come off the bench and help shore up what should be a somewhat spotty Cavaliers defense. Marion can effectively guard both forward positions, and should be able to spot LeBron James some minutes as the shutdown wing defender.

J.R. Smith: Shoelaces, snacks, golf with Michael Jordan

New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith found himself in the news three times this past week - mostly because it was a very slow week. 

First, he told reporters that he would continue to untie opponents' shoelaces, something he was fined for last season. He was then gifted snacks on his birthday while taking in a Yankees game and, to wrap up, said he would "whup [Michael Jordan's] ass" in a round of golf. 

U.S. golden at FIBA World Cup

To nobody's surprise, Team USA stood atop the podium on Sunday after defeating Serbia to capture gold at the FIBA World Cup. France defeated Lithuania in the bronze-medal game.

Point guard Kyrie Irving led the way for the Americans with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting against Serbia and captured both tournament MVP and all-tournament team honors. He was joined by fellow American Kenneth Faried, Serbian guard Milos Teodosic, French small forward Nicolas Batum and Spanish center Pau Gasol to round out the all-tournament team.

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