Season Recaps
A Franchise Rich With Tradition: From Pettit To
"Pistol Pete" To The "Human Highlight Film"
When the subject is NBA tradition, the Atlanta
Hawks aren't the first team that comes to mind. However, the Hawks
are as venerable a franchise as any. The team's history extends
back to 1946, when the squad was known as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks.
At that time the team was shared by three neighboring river cities
(Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa) that straddled
the Mississippi River. In later years the team played in Milwaukee
and St. Louis and enjoyed the services of a handful of the NBA's
most memorable stars. In 1958, as the St. Louis Hawks, the club
earned its only championship. The Tri-Cities Blackhawks joined
the National Basketball League in the 1946-47 season, when the
NBL included such teams as the Toledo Jeeps, the Youngstown Bears,
the Oshkosh All-Stars, and the Sheboygan Redskins. That was the
year that legendary center George Mikan played his first professional
games, competing for the NBL's Chicago American Gears. The Blackhawks
were owned by Ben Kerner and played in the 6,000-seat Wharton
Field House. Tri-Cities finished out of the playoffs in 1946-47
but improved its record to .500 the following year and made it
to the first round of the postseason. At the start of the 1948-49
season Mikan's Minneapolis Lakers and three other NBL teams jumped
to the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which had teams
in major cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. The
1948-49 Blackhawks featured Don Otten, the NBL's only remaining
7-footer. He led the league in scoring with 14.0 points per game
and powered Tri-Cities into the playoffs with a 36-28 record.
The Blackhawks survived the first round but were felled by the
Oshkosh All-Stars in the second.
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1949-51: Tri-Cities Joins The NBA
After three years of skirmishing, the NBL and
the BAA joined forces for the 1949-50 campaign. Only half of the
NBL's 10 franchises survived the merger. Tri-Cities was one of
the 17 teams in the newly named National Basketball Association.
In their first NBA contest the Blackhawks squared off against
the Denver Nuggets (unrelated to the current franchise) and earned
a 93-85 win. But after six straight losses Head Coach Roger Potter
was fired and Arnold "Red" Auerbach was hired in his place. Auerbach
posted a 28-29 record during his tenure at the helm-good enough
to reach the playoffs, but the Blackhawks lost in the first round
to the Anderson Packers. After the 1949-50 season Auerbach moved
on to Boston. Auerbach wasn't the only future legend to escape
Tri-Cities for Boston-Bob Cousy briefly belonged to the Blackhawks
as well. But the club sent Cousy to the Chicago Stags in exchange
for Gene Vance, who averaged only 8.3 points in five professional
seasons. When the Stags folded before the 1950-51 season, Cousy
was picked up by the Celtics. At the start of the 1950-51 season
the NBA had been pared down from 17 teams to 11. The Blackhawks
went through three coaches that year-Dave McMillan, John Logan,
and Mike Todorovich (the latter two served as player-coaches)-and
finished in last place in the Western Division with a 25-43 record.
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1951-55: Hawks Take Act To The Big City
Before the start of the 1951-52 season, owner
Ben Kerner transferred the club from Tri-Cities to Milwaukee,
where a brand-new 10,000-seat arena was waiting. That season the
team-now called simply the Hawks-played fairly lackluster basketball.
The only player to finish among the league leaders was 6-6 center-forward
Mel Hutchins, who tied for second in rebounding with 13.3 boards
per game. The team finished dead last in the Western Division
with a 17-49 record, but Milwaukee fans, who had supported teams
in Sheboygan and Oshkosh in the old NBL, still turned out to watch
the Hawks play. The 1952-53 Hawks fared better, winning 27 games,
but they were still the worst team in the Western Division and
finished out of the playoffs once again. Milwaukee maintained
occupancy of the division cellar in 1953-54 as well, winning 21
games and losing 51. With 26 games left to play in the season,
Kerner brought in William "Red" Holzman as the new coach. During
the offseason the Hawks added the cornerstone of their future
success by drafting 6-9 Louisiana State forward Bob Pettit. The
youngster had a spectacular rookie season in 1954-55, averaging
20.4 points (fourth in the NBA) and winning NBA Rookie of the
Year honors. Milwaukee improved by a few games that season but
remained the weakest team in the West at 26-46.
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1955-56: So Long Milwaukee, Hello St. Louis
Milwaukee sports fans had by now shifted their
affections from basketball's Hawks to baseball's Braves. Shrewdly,
owner Ben Kerner moved the club to St. Louis and the Hawks were
an instant hit. Pettit was already well on his way to stardom,
winning the 1955-56 NBA Most Valuable Player Award after leading
the league in both scoring (25.7 ppg) and rebounding (16.2 rpg).
Halfway through the season Kerner improved Pettit's supporting
cast with the addition of 6-7 Jack Coleman and 6-1 Jack McMahon,
who were both acquired from the Rochester Royals. After occupying
the bottom rung of the Western Division for the previous four
seasons, St. Louis climbed to a tie for second place with the
Minneapolis Lakers at 33-39. The Lakers beat the Hawks in a one-game
playoff and were officially awarded second place. The two teams
then met in a best-of-three playoff series, and St. Louis won
the first game by a single point. Minneapolis notched a 58-point
blowout in Game 2, but the Hawks prevailed in Game 3 by a 116-115
tally to move on to the Western Division Finals. They pounced
on the Fort Wayne Pistons in the first two games of the five-game
series, but Fort Wayne bounced back to sweep the next three and
move on to the NBA Finals.
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1956: The Day The Hawks Lost Bill Russell
The Hawks had the second pick in the 1956 NBA
Draft. Before the draft began, the Boston Celtics forfeited their
first-round pick by making Tom Heinsohn of Holy Cross a territorial
selection. The territorial system allowed a team to claim a player
who played college basketball in its immediate area, provided
the team gave up its first-round draft position. But even after
selecting Heinsohn, Boston Coach Red Auerbach coveted Bill Russell,
who had just completed his final year at the University of San
Francisco. Russell, with his unprecedented defensive ability,
had enabled the Dons to go two seasons without a loss. The Rochester
Royals selected Duquesne's Sihugo Green with the first overall
pick, then St. Louis drafted Russell. But Auerbach wasted no time
in getting his man, sending Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan to St.
Louis for Russell. The deal was a good one for the Hawks. The
6-8 Macauley had been a popular player at St. Louis University
and was coming off a season in which he had averaged 17.5 points.
Hagan was a promising rookie who was returning from two years
of military service.
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1956-57: St. Louis Struggles In Regular Season,
Then Shocks All In Playoffs
Despite the new cast, St. Louis got off to a
slow start in 1956-57. With the club at 14-19, Red Holzman was
fired and Slater Martin, a guard who had come to the club earlier
in the year from New York, took over as player-coach. The team
went 5-3 under Martin, but he decided he'd rather remain solely
a player, so reserve forward Alex Hannum was given the reins.
Led by Pettit, who finished second in the league in scoring (24.7
ppg) despite having to play in a cast after breaking his wrist
in mid-February, the Hawks shared first place in the Western Division
with the Minneapolis Lakers and the Fort Wayne Pistons. That result
wasn't quite as impressive as it seemed-the three teams were 34-38,
and each would have finished in last place in the Eastern Division,
where the Knicks occupied the cellar with a 36-36 mark. St. Louis
beat Fort Wayne and Minneapolis in single-game playoffs to determine
the division champion. That gave the Hawks a first-round bye in
the 1957 NBA Playoffs, so the team sat back to wait for the winner
of the Lakers-Pistons series. St. Louis then swept the Lakers
in the Western Division Finals, taking the final game, 143-135,
in double overtime. With that the Hawks earned the right to face
Boston in the NBA Finals. The Finals were expected to be a Boston
romp, but the Hawks surprised the Celtics in Game 1 with a 125-123
double-overtime win in Boston. The Celtics evened the series the
following night, and the two teams split a pair of games in St.
Louis. On April 9, Boston came out on top in Game 5, 124-109.
Two nights later Cliff Hagan tipped in a Bob Pettit miss at the
buzzer, and the Hawks edged the Celtics, 96-94, to force a seventh
and deciding game. Game 7, which was played on Saturday, April
13, was one of the most memorable contests in the history of the
NBA. The afternoon game was seen by a large national television
audience. It was a closely played affair, with the Celtics taking
command early and the Hawks fighting back. Pettit sank a pair
of free throws in the closing seconds to send the game into overtime.
With a few ticks left on the clock in the first extra period,
a Jack Coleman basket forced the game into a second overtime.
Boston forward Jim Loscutoff sank a free throw in the waning seconds,
and when Pettit's buzzer-beater caromed off the rim the Celtics
had a 125-123 win and the franchise's first championship.
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1957-59: Hawks Seek Revenge In Finals Rematch
Tempered by the heat of the previous season's
playoffs, the 1957-58 Hawks cruised to the top of the Western
Division, finishing eight games ahead of the second-place Detroit
Pistons. Alex Hannum, who had retired as a player after the 1956-57
season, devoted his full attention to coaching in 1957-58, and
it paid off. Pettit ranked third in the NBA in scoring (24.6 ppg)
and second in rebounding (17.4 rpg). The team played a control
game, pounding the ball inside to Pettit and forwards Cliff Hagan
(19.9 ppg) and Ed Macauley (14.2 ppg). A rematch of the previous
season's climactic Finals took shape after the Hawks eliminated
the Pistons, four games to one, and the Celtics took out the Philadelphia
Warriors in similar fashion. This time no one was predicting an
easy go of it for Boston, and the Hawks reinforced this with a
two-point win in the opening contest. The Celtics evened the series
at one game apiece, but fortune turned in favor of St. Louis after
Bill Russell suffered an ankle injury in Game 3. The Hawks took
that encounter, lost Game 4, then squeezed by the Celtics, 102-100,
in Game 5. Game 6 was played in St. Louis, and Russell did his
best to compete with limited mobility, but after 20 ineffective
minutes he was lifted. Pettit, meanwhile, was unstoppable, setting
a new NBA playoff record by scoring 50 points. The Hawks won by
a single point, 110-109, to dethrone the Celtics and claim the
crown. Despite winning the title, owner Ben Kerner opted to change
coaches for the 1958-59 campaign. His first appointee, Andy Phillip,
lasted only 10 games before Ed Macauley, who was approaching the
end of his playing career, took over. The Hawks also added center
Clyde Lovellette, a 20-point scorer during the previous three
seasons with Minneapolis and Cincinnati. Slater Martin and Jack
McMahon continued to hold down the guard spots. The tough veteran
team ran away with the Western Division. Pettit earned his second
NBA Most Valuable Player Award after leading the league with 29.2
points per game and setting a new NBA record with 2,105 total
points for the season. The Hawks, who finished with a 49-23 record
and a 16-game lead over the second-place Lakers, were anticipating
a third straight Finals matchup with the Celtics. But St. Louis
was shocked in the Western Division Finals when Minneapolis, led
by rookie Elgin Baylor, took the series, four games to two. The
Hawks appeared to be in control after taking two of the first
three contests, but the Lakers answered by winning three straight,
including a one-point overtime win in Game 5 and a two-point victory
in Game 6.
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1959-61: Dominant Front Line Leads St. Louis Back
To Finals
In 1959-60 the Hawks ran away with the Western
Division crown for the third consecutive season. Once again they
did it with a defense that held opponents to a league-low average
of 110.7 points per game. St. Louis's scoring, as usual, came
almost entirely from the front line. Pettit led the charge with
26.1 points per game, followed closely by Hagan at 24.8 and Lovellette
at 20.8. Fans who had been disappointed the previous season when
the anticipated Celtics-Hawks matchup had failed to materialize
were not let down in 1960. St. Louis dispatched Minneapolis in
a seven-game Western Division Finals, while the Celtics rolled
over Philadelphia. In the championship round the Celtics and Hawks
traded victories, with Boston taking Games 1, 3, and 5, while
the Hawks prevailed in Games 2, 4, and 6. Once again the two teams
faced a decisive Game 7. But 1960 was not a repeat of 1957. Russell
owned the boards, grabbing 35 rebounds, and the Celtics outscored
the Hawks by 18 in the second period to break the game open. The
final score was 122-103. Fickle owner Ben Kerner changed coaches
again during the offseason, replacing Ed Macauley with Paul Seymour.
The only other significant change was the addition of rookie Lenny
Wilkens. The 6-1 guard averaged 11.7 points in his first year,
but the bulk of the scoring once again came from the Hawks' front
line of Pettit, Hagan, and Lovellette, who combined for 72.0 points
per game. St. Louis took the Western Division title by a 15-game
margin.
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1961-62: A Steep Decline
Although the 1961 NBA Finals featured the usual
combatants-Boston and St. Louis-the real excitement came during
the Western Division Finals between the Hawks and the Lakers.The
Lakers now resided in Los Angeles and featured Elgin Baylor and
Jerry West. Los Angeles pushed St. Louis to seven games, but the
Hawks made it to the Finals thanks to a one-point overtime win
in Game 6 and a two-point victory in Game 7. Boston then made
short work of the weary Hawks (the Finals started one day after
the Hawks had eliminated the Lakers). Game 1 was a blowout, and
the Celtics took Games 2, 4, and 5 in relatively easy fashion.
Only a 124-120 St. Louis victory in Game 3 prevented a sweep.
The following season was disastrous for St. Louis. In the wake
of the Berlin crisis the country's military reserves were activated,
and two NBA players, Baylor and Wilkens, were called to duty.
Without Wilkens the Hawks struggled, and after Lovellette went
down halfway through the 1961-62 season with a heel injury, the
team collapsed. Kerner shuffled through three coaches, first firing
Seymour after 14 games. His replacement, Andrew "Fuzzy" Levane,
lasted 60 contests. Pettit was tapped to lead the club for the
season's final six games. The Hawks finished with a dismal 29-51
record and fell to fourth place in the Western Division, ending
a five-year reign at the top. The club also finished out of the
playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
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1962-65: Kerner Cleans House
After the disastrous 1961-62 season Kerner did
some major housecleaning. He started at the top, bringing in Harry
"the Horse" Gallatin as head coach. In a 10-year career spent
mostly with the Knickerbockers, Gallatin had averaged 13.0 points
and never missed a single contest after his rookie season. Gallatin
kept Pettit, of course, and Hagan. After a one-year absence Wilkens
was back from the Army. But Lovellette was gone. The American
Basketball League, a rival circuit in its second year, was floundering,
so the Hawks were able to add four ABL expatriates to the squad.
Another key acquisition was draft pick Zelmo Beaty. The changes
paid off. In 1962-63 St. Louis rebounded to post a 48-32 mark
and finish second in the West behind the Los Angeles Lakers. Pettit
continued his scoring and rebounding onslaught with 28.4 points
and 15.1 rebounds per game. Beaty was named to the NBA All-Rookie
Team after averaging 10.2 points and 8.3 rebounds, and Gallatin
won the first-ever NBA Coach of the Year Award. The Hawks eliminated
Detroit in the Western Division Semifinals, then pushed the Lakers
to seven games in the Western Division Finals before bowing out.
Two games into the 1963-64 campaign the Hawks acquired seven-year
veteran guard Richie Guerin from the Knicks. The 6-4 Guerin had
averaged better than 20 points in each of the previous four seasons.
St. Louis finished in second place in the West again, this time
trailing the San Francisco Warriors by two games. The Hawks got
by Los Angeles in the opening round of postseason play but were
ousted by the Warriors in a seven-game Western Division Finals.
The Hawks got off to a poor start the following year. Pettit missed
30 games with a knee injury, and Guerin was sidelined with a leg
problem. Prior to midseason the Hawks' record stood at 17-16.
Kerner switched coaches again; he fired Gallatin and replaced
him with Guerin, who became player-coach. The team went 28-19
under Guerin to secure second place in the Western Division. But
the Hawks were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the
Baltimore Bullets, three games to one.
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1965-66: Pettit Calls It Quits
Pettit retired after the 1964-65 season. He finished
his 11-year career with averages of 26.4 points and an incredible
16.2 rebounds per game. He was an All-NBA First Team selection
10 times, the All-Star Game MVP four times, and NBA MVP twice.
He was also the first NBA player to score 20,000 points. Entering
the 1965-66 season, Cliff Hagan was the only remaining member
of the Hawks' 1958 championship team. The team struggled with
Pettit gone, although center Zelmo Beaty was beginning to come
into his own, averaging 20.7 points and 13.6 rebounds. St. Louis
finished in third place behind Baltimore, then avenged the previous
season's playoff upset with a three-game sweep of the Bullets.
The Hawks then surprised everyone by taking the Lakers to seven
games in the Western Division Finals. Down three games to one,
St. Louis came back to claim Game 5 and Game 6 before dropping
the deciding contest.
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1966-68: "Sweet Lou" Makes His Debut
The Hawks selected 6-5 shooter Lou Hudson in
the 1966 NBA Draft. Hagan moved on, joining the Dallas Chaparrals
of the ABA. The stars of the team were now Beaty, who averaged
17.8 points (despite missing 33 games with a knee injury), fifth-year
forward Bill Bridges (17.4 ppg, 15.1 rpg), and Lenny Wilkens,
who matched Bridges's scoring output and led the team with 5.7
assists per game. Hudson had a dazzling rookie season, leading
the club with an average of 18.4 points per game. He was named
to the NBA All-Rookie Team at season's end. St. Louis took second
place in the Western Division despite finishing three games under
.500. In the playoffs the Hawks swept the expansion Chicago Bulls
before bowing to the San Francisco Warriors in the Western Division
Finals, four games to two. During the offseason Hudson announced
that he was jumping to the new ABA, but at the last minute he
changed his mind and stayed with St. Louis. Ironically, he spent
only half the season with the Hawks before being called to military
service. The 1967-68 Hawks made do. Guerin, who had retired as
a player, was still the coach. Beaty and Wilkens both averaged
better than 20 points. On the boards Beaty received help from
Paul Silas, who emerged as a starter after three years on the
bench and averaged 11.7 rebounds and 13.4 points. The team breezed
through the Western Division, taking the crown with a 56-26 record.
However, the third-place Warriors surprised the Hawks in the playoffs
by taking a first-round series in six games. On May 3, 1968, owner
Ben Kerner shocked residents of both St. Louis and Atlanta when
he announced that the Hawks had been sold to Georgia real estate
developer Thomas Cousins and former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders.
Kerner believed that a St. Louis franchise could no longer compete
financially in the NBA; the league now consisted of 14 teams and
had to compete with the ABA for supremacy.
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1968-72: Hawks Fly South To New Home
The new owners moved the franchise to Atlanta.
The Atlanta Hawks retained Guerin as coach and welcomed Hudson
back from his stint in the Army. But a contract dispute forced
the new management to trade Lenny Wilkens to Seattle for Walt
Hazzard. Hazzard was joined in the backcourt by Joe "Pogo" Caldwell,
a solid fifth-year player who had averaged 16.4 points off the
bench for the Hawks the previous season. In 1968-69 Atlanta finished
seven games behind the Western Division-champion Los Angeles Lakers,
then fell to the Lakers in the Western Division Finals, winning
only one game. The Hawks were Western Division champions for the
1969-70 season, but they had to do it without Zelmo Beaty, who
jumped to the ABA. The late-season addition of Detroit's Walt
Bellamy helped, but another trade that sent Paul Silas to Phoenix
for the little-remembered Gary Gregor was not as beneficial. Atlanta
made short work of the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the
1970 NBA Playoffs, then ran into Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor
in the Western Division Finals. The Lakers dismantled the Hawks
in four straight games. For the second consecutive year Atlanta
was stung by the ABA when Joe Caldwell defected prior to the 1970-71
season. The addition of rookie scoring sensation Pete Maravich
proved to be a mixed blessing. Although Maravich finished second
on the team in scoring with 23.2 points per game (behind Lou Hudson's
26.8 ppg), the team often didn't know what to make of his fancy
passing and showboat dribbling. For the first time since moving
to Atlanta the Hawks fell below .500, finishing at 36-46. The
team was no match for the New York Knicks in the opening round
of the playoffs and fell in five games. The 1971-72 season was
a repeat performance. The Hawks finished 10 games below the .500
mark and were booted in the first round of the playoffs, falling
to Boston in six games.
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1972-74: Hawks Move To New Arena With A New Coach
During the offseason the team underwent two important
changes. After having shared Alexander Memorial Hall with the
Georgia Tech basketball team for five years, the Hawks moved into
the brand-new 16,500-seat Omni. The club also experienced the
end of the Richie Guerin era. After 71/2 seasons at the helm Guerin
stepped aside, leaving the team with a 327-291 career record.
(Two decades later he still owned the club record for coaching
victories.) To replace Guerin the Hawks hired Lowell "Cotton"
Fitzsimmons, who came to Atlanta from Phoenix, where he had piloted
the Suns to a 49-33 mark the season before. Propelled by the high-scoring
duo of Hudson (27.1 ppg) and Maravich (26.1), Atlanta performed
well under Fitzsimmons. The Hawks won in their debut at the Omni
on October 15, 1972, downing New York, 109-101. After a 10-13
start the club went 12-4 in December. Playing slightly better
than .500 ball the rest of the way, the Hawks finished at 46-36.
But for the second year in a row Atlanta fell victim to Boston
in the first round of the playoffs. This would prove to be the
Hawks' best season under Fitzsimmons. During the 1973-74 season
Maravich took more shots than anybody in the league and finished
No. 2 in the circuit in scoring with 27.7 points per game. But
the team finished 35-47 and out of the playoffs, ending an 11-year
run of postseason appearances.
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1974-77: "Pistol Pete" Ends His Firing Act In Atlanta
The Hawks unloaded Maravich in the offseason,
sending him to the expansion New Orleans Jazz for Dean Meminger,
Bob Kauffman, 1974 and 1975 first-round draft choices, and 1975
and 1976 second-round draft picks. Things went from bad to worse.
An elbow injury kept Hudson out of all but 11 contests during
the 1974-75 season, and Atlanta won only 31 games, the team's
lowest victory total since the 1961-62 season. Using their No.
1 and No. 3 picks in the following draft, the Hawks took David
Thompson and Marvin Webster. Both stunned Atlanta by opting to
sign with the Denver Nuggets of the ABA. The Hawks held together
for the first three months of the 1975-76 campaign and reached
February 1 with a 23-25 record. The emergence of second-year forward
John Drew, who scored 21.6 points per game, helped. But the team
collapsed during the second half, winning only 6 of its final
34 games. Fitzsimmons was released with eight games left in the
season. Hubie Brown took over for the 1976-77 season. Two seasons
earlier he had piloted the Kentucky Colonels to an ABA Championship.
But Brown couldn't do much for the undermanned Hawks in his first
season, and the team finished out of the playoffs for the fourth
year in a row, with a 31-51 record.
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1977-79: Turner Takes Over, But Hawks Stay Put
The big news that year occurred off the court.
In January, Ted Turner (who owned the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta
television station WTCG) announced that he had purchased the franchise.
He also put an end to rumors that the Hawks would leave Atlanta
by promising that the team would stay put. Atlanta traded Hudson
at the end of the 1976-77 season, sending him to the Los Angeles
Lakers for Ollie Johnson. In the 1977 NBA Draft the Hawks made
two key acquisitions, picking up 7-1 center Wayne "Tree" Rollins
and 6-2 guard Eddie Johnson. The team also added 5-8 Charlie Criss,
a 28-year-old rookie who had been toiling for years in the netherworld
of minor league basketball. Coach Brown somehow managed to coax
10 more wins out of his young squad, and the 1977-78 Hawks finished
with a 41-41 record, earning the team a spot in the playoffs and
Brown the NBA Coach of the Year Award. Atlanta continued its progress
under Coach Brown. Dan Roundfield joined the team for the 1978-79
campaign after three years in Indiana. The Hawks improved to a
46-36 mark and took third place in the Central Division, only
two games behind first-place San Antonio. In the playoffs Atlanta
dismantled the Houston Rockets in a best-of-three first-round
series, then stretched Washington to the limit in the Eastern
Conference Semifinals before losing in Game 7.
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1979-82: Hawks Soar To First Division Title Since
1970
The Hubie Brown-era Hawks came into their own
in the 1979-80 season. A well-balanced team led by Drew, Roundfield,
Rollins, and Johnson won 50 games and came out on top in the Central
Division. It was the Hawks' first division title since 1970, and
the first 50-win season for the franchise since 1967-68. Unfortunately,
the club's solid regular-season play did not carry over into the
playoffs. A strong Philadelphia team led by Julius Erving made
short work of the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals,
winning the series, four games to one. Inexplicably, the 1980-81
Hawks collapsed. The team finished 20 games under .500 and plummeted
from first to fourth place in the Central Division. Brown's tenure
ended after five seasons. Owner Ted Turner brought in Kevin Loughery
as the new coach for the 1981-82 season. Loughery took the same
crew and turned it into a tight defensive unit. After allowing
108.0 points per game the previous season, the team led the league
in defense in 1981-82, holding opponents to only 100.5 points
per contest. The Hawks improved to a 42-40 mark and made the playoffs,
losing a first-round series to Philadelphia.
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1982-86: "Human Highlight Film" Rated "R"-As In
Regal
On September 3, 1982, the Hawks made a move that
would shape their identity for the next decade. They sent John
Drew and Freeman Williams to the Utah Jazz for rookie Dominique
Wilkins. The former University of Georgia star and future "Human
Highlight Film" earned a spot on the 1982-83 NBA All-Rookie Team
by averaging 17.5 points. Rollins led the league in blocked shots
with 343. Roundfield led the team in scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounding
(11.4 rpg). But the Hawks won only one game more than in the previous
season and were once again eliminated from postseason play in
the first round. Mike Fratello replaced Loughery prior to the
1983-84 campaign. In his first year the club fell to two games
below .500 but made it to the playoffs. For 1984-85 the Hawks
embarked on a major rebuilding program. Roundfield was dealt to
the Pistons for 6-8 Cliff Levingston, 6-9 Antoine Carr, and a
couple of draft picks. Atlanta also picked up 7-footer Kevin Willis
in the 1984 NBA Draft. Wilkins finished sixth in the league in
scoring with 27.4 points per game, and the Hawks finished fifth
in the Central Division with a 34-48 record. In the offseason
Atlanta drafted Jon Koncak and then signed Anthony "Spud" Webb
to a free-agent deal. The Hawks were the second-youngest team
in the NBA heading into the 1985-86 season, and expectations were
low. The club got off to a slow start, reaching the end of November
with an 8-11 record and finishing December at 15-15. But with
the new year the team hit its stride. Atlanta went 35-17 the rest
of the way to nail down a 50-win season. Wilkins led the league
in scoring with 30.3 points per game and made his first All-Star
appearance. Fratello was named NBA Coach of the Year. Despite
all that, the most impressive feat was performed by the 5-7 Webb,
who thrilled sports fans and teammates alike by winning the NBA
Slam-Dunk Championship on NBA All-Star Saturday. After a one-year
absence, the Hawks returned to the playoffs in 1986. They got
by the Pistons in the first round, thanks to a double-overtime
win in Game 4. But Atlanta was no match for the Celtics in the
Eastern Conference Semifinals. Boston dispatched the Hawks in
five games, routing the young team by 33 points in Game 5.
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1986-88: Two-Year Run For NBA Title Comes Up Short
Both Times
One year later the Hawks joined the league's
elite. The team jumped out to a 10-2 start as the 1986-87 season
got underway, then strung together 11 straight victories at midseason
and cruised to a Central Division title with a franchise-record
57 wins. The club was led by Dominique Wilkins, who finished second
in the league to Michael Jordan in scoring with 29.0 points per
game. Glenn "Doc" Rivers finished fourth in the circuit with 10.0
assists per contest. Tree Rollins moved into the No. 2 spot on
the NBA's all-time blocked shots list. With high expectations
the Hawks soared into the postseason and eliminated the Indiana
Pacers, three games to one, in the opening round. But Atlanta
fell in five games to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The Hawks failed to repeat as Central Division champs in 1987-88
but managed to win 50 games behind Wilkins's 30.7 points per game.
It marked the third straight season in which Atlanta had claimed
at least 50 wins. They made a strong run in the playoffs, taking
care of Milwaukee in five games and then pushing the Celtics to
the limit in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In a hard-fought
series, Boston prevailed with two-point victories in Games 6 and
7. NBA fans will long remember the point-for-point, basket-for-basket
duel between Wilkins and Larry Bird in the fourth quarter of Game
7.
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1988-90: Injury To Willis Leaves Hawks On The Short
End Of The Stick
Having failed to get past the conference semifinals
in each of the previous three seasons, the Hawks made some monumental
deals prior to the 1988-89 campaign. On June 27 they picked up
Reggie Theus from Sacramento. Six weeks later Atlanta signed 13-year
veteran Moses Malone to a free-agent contract. The team seemed
to be ready to challenge for a title, but prior to the season
Kevin Willis fractured his left foot and was lost for the year.
Even without Willis, the Hawks turned in another 50-win performance.
But the club was stunned by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round
of the playoffs. The teams swapped close wins in the opening two
games, then split a pair of overtime struggles. In Game 5 the
Bucks finally eliminated the Hawks, 96-92. Atlanta's run of 50-win
seasons ended at four as the Hawks fell to 41-41 in 1989-90. Injuries
wiped out the backcourt and the bench, with starting guards John
Battle and Doc Rivers and backups Cliff Levingston and Jon Koncak
all spending time on the injured list. After a decent 13-6 start,
Atlanta played .500 ball from early December to mid-January and
then lost 17 of its next 22 games. Despite a late-season run that
saw the club go 11-4 to end the year, a final record of 41-41
was not enough to earn the Hawks a playoff berth.
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1990-91: Weiss Replaces Fratello
After battling for the top spot in the Central
Division for four straight seasons, Mike Fratello lost his coaching
job because of his team's mediocre showing. He left the franchise
in second place on the club's all-time win list with 324 victories,
only 3 fewer than Richie Guerin. Atlanta courted former San Antonio
Head Coach Bob Weiss and named him the new boss on May 22, 1990.
The 1990-91 season was a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Always
a great scorer, Dominique Wilkins showed that he could contribute
in other ways by setting career highs for rebounds and assists.
But the once-ageless Moses Malone was beginning to show signs
of wear and tear, and his production dropped to 10.6 points per
game. The Hawks started slowly, closing out November with a nine-game
losing streak. During the next two months, however, the team looked
like a potential 50-game winner, claiming 11 wins in December
and 9 in January. Erratic over the final half of the campaign,
Atlanta finished with a 43-39 record. Back in the playoffs after
a one-year absence, the Hawks fell to the Pistons in a five-game
first-round series.
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1991-92: A Changing Of The Guard
The offseason brought a true changing of the
guard. The team sent Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers and received
the No. 9 pick in the 1991 NBA Draft and two future second-round
draft choices in return. Atlanta used the first-round pick to
obtain Stacey Augmon, a 6-8 swingman and defensive specialist
from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The Hawks also dealt
Spud Webb to the Sacramento Kings and then turned the point guard
position over to second-year player Rumeal Robinson. Despite its
young backcourt, by late January Atlanta had fashioned a respectable
22-20 record. But in a January 28 game against Philadelphia, Dominique
Wilkins ruptured his Achilles tendon, ending his season. The Hawks
went 16-24 the rest of the way and finished the 1991-92 season
with a 38-44 record. It might have been worse if Kevin Willis
hadn't turned in the performance of his career-the 7-footer was
second on the team in scoring (18.3 ppg) and second in the league
in rebounding (15.5 rpg). Atlanta continued to tinker with the
backcourt, trading Robinson to New Jersey for Mookie Blaylock.
The trade gave the team a true point guard with solid ballhandling
skills. It also gave the Hawks a potent defensive tandem at the
guard positions in Blaylock and Augmon.
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1992-93: Wilkins Becomes Hawks' All-Time Leading
Scorer
A mediocre team for the first four months of
the 1992-93 season, the Hawks reached the end of February with
a 26-29 record. The highlight of the season up to that point had
come on February 2, when Wilkins scored 31 points against Seattle
to pass Bob Pettit as the all-time leading scorer in franchise
history. The Hawks surprised the league with a great run in March,
posting a 12-3 record. The team then stumbled through April at
5-7 and entered the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern
Conference. That meant a first-round appointment with the Chicago
Bulls. The three-game series was a rout. A 10-point loss in Game
3 was the closest Atlanta could get to Chicago, which swept the
series.
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1993-94: Wilkens Coaches Hawks To Division Title
Lenny Wilkens, who replaced Bob Weiss as head
coach for the 1993-94 season, brought defense, winning, and excitement
to Atlanta. The team went 57-25, tying the franchise record for
victories in a season and capturing its first Central Division
title since 1987. Although the Hawks were upset by the Indiana
Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Wilkens was named
NBA Coach of the Year. By season's end his 926 career coaching
victories left him only 12 short of Red Auerbach's 938 for the
top spot on the NBA's all-time list. Wilkens stressed defense
with the Hawks, who responded by holding opponents to 96.2 points
per game, fourth best in the league. Starting guards Mookie Blaylock
and Stacey Augmon, both excellent defenders, improved on their
performances of 1992-93. Blaylock ranked third in the league in
steals (2.62 per game) and made the NBA All-Defensive First Team
and the Eastern Conference All-Star Team, while Augmon and free-agent
signee Craig Ehlo were also among the league leaders in thefts.
In the frontcourt Kevin Willis registered a career-high 19.1 points
per game. The Hawks changed their lineup significantly in February,
trading their all-time scoring leader, Dominique Wilkins, to the
Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Danny Manning. Wilkins left
Atlanta having accumulated 23,292 points in 111/2 seasons with
the team. The trade's effect on the Hawks was difficult to assess,
but the team didn't play particularly well in the postseason.
After needing five games to eliminate the Miami Heat in the first
round, the Hawks were upended by the Pacers, who had won 10 fewer
games than Atlanta during the regular season.
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1994-95: Wilkens Becomes Winningest Coach In NBA
History
Danny Manning didn't stay with Atlanta for long,
opting to accept a free-agency deal with the Phoenix Suns instead.
The Hawks then made a significant trade as the 1994-95 season
opened, sending Kevin Willis and a future draft pick to the Miami
Heat for Steve Smith, Grant Long, and a future second-round draft
selection. That trade and the loss of Danny Manning gave the team
a decidedly different look. Instead of relying on a strong front
line, the team depended on guards Mookie Blaylock and Smith. When
those two were hot, the Hawks were a good team. Blaylock averaged
17.2 points and 7.7 assists and broke a team record for three-pointers
made with 199, while Smith contributed 16.3 points per outing.
In addition, Blaylock finished second in the league in steals
(2.5 per game) and was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.
On March 22 he recorded career steal No. 1,000, attaining that
plateau faster than all but three players in NBA history. Stacey
Augmon was moved to the small forward slot to start on the front
line with Long and Andrew Lang. A career .717 free-throw shooter
entering the season, Lang shot .809 from the line in 1994-95 to
finish 40th in the NBA. Atlanta suffered from a lack of offense
all season, scoring only 96.6 points per contest, the fourth-lowest
mark in the NBA. In games in which the Hawks scored more than
100 points, they were 26-4. The team was strong on defense, however,
allowing opponents an average of 95.3 points per contest, third
best in the league. The Hawks nevertheless finished at 42-40 and
were dispatched from the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers in three
games. The big story for Atlanta in 1994-95 was Head Coach Lenny
Wilkens, who became the NBA's all-time leader in coaching victories.
In his 22nd season as an NBA coach, Wilkens passed Red Auerbach's
938 wins when the Hawks defeated the Washington Bullets on January
6.
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1995-96: Hawks Take Flight In Playoffs
Although Atlanta completed the 1995-96 season
without a single player averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds or 10
assists, Lenny Wilkens had the Hawks fying high, and made some
personal history along the way.
On March 1, Wilkens became the first coach in NBA
history to post 1,000 wins, as Atlanta recorded a 74-68 win over
the Cleveland Cavaliers. More importantly, by achieving the milestone,
he kept the Hawks on pace to make the playoffs.
The Hawks were led offensively by 18.1 points per
game from Steve Smith and defensively by the 2.62 steals per game
from Mookie Blaylock. The team was buoyed by a midseason trade
for Christian Laettner, who averaged 14.2 points and solidified
the team's center position.
Wilkens finished the regular season with 1,014 wins
as Atlanta finished fourth in the Central Division with a 46-36
record. In the first round of the playoffs, Atlanta surprised
the Indiana Pacers in five games, winning the decisive fifth game
in Indiana. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Atlanta was
eliminated, 4-1, by the Orlando Magic.
1996-97: Mutombo Helps Hawks Fly High
Atlanta dipped into the free agent market during
the 1996 offseason and came away with one of its biggest catches,
both literally and figuratively. Dikembe Mutombo, the 7-2 center
from Zaire, instantly transformed the Hawks into one of the finest
defensive teams in the NBA.
Mutombo, one of eight new Hawks, led Atlanta to
a 56-26 record and a berth in the Eastern Conference Semifinals
for the third time in four years under Coach Lenny Wilkens. Mutombo
finished second in the league in blocked shots (3.3 bpg) and in
rebounding (11.6 rpg) on his way to winning the NBA Defensive
Player of the Year award for the second time in his career. One
of his closest competitors was teammate Mookie Blaylock, who led
the league with 2.72 steals per game.
Defense was the Hawks' specialty, but Atlanta's
offense was potent as well. Christian Laettner enjoyed his best
pro season, averaging 18.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Laettner
joined Mutombo on the Eastern Conference All-Star team. The backcourt
tandem of Steve Smith and Blaylock also provided spark. Smith
scored a team-high 20.1 ppg, while Blaylock averaged 17.4 ppg
and a team-high 5.9 assists.
On December 17, the Hawks set an NBA record with
19 three-point field goals in a 109-73 win over Dallas. In January,
the team won 10 straight games and set a franchise record for
most wins in any month (14) en route to the seventh 50-win season
in Hawks history. In their last season at the Omni, the Hawks
went 36-5, equaling the best home record in team history.
In a first-round playoff battle with Detroit, Atlanta
won the decisive fifth game in front of the home crowd. Atlanta's
second round opponent, the eventual champion Chicago Bulls, gave
the Hawks a little more than they could handle even though in
Game 2 Atlanta became the first team in 14 tries to beat the Bulls
in Chicago. However, Atlanta's win seemed to rekindle the fire
in the Bulls, who won the best-of-7 series 4-1.
1997-98: Hawks Overcome Obstacles
The 1997-98 Atlanta Hawks dealt with more than
their share of distracions. Atlanta was forced to split its home
games between the Georgia Dome and Georgia Tech while their new
arena was under construction. Despite the additional headache
and a series of injuries, Atlanta finished with a record of 50-32.
The Hawks began the season on high note, going 11-0
to match the Lakers for the best start in the league before suffering
a series of injures to key players, including Steve Smith, Alan
Henderson, Mookie Blaylock and Christian Laettner.
Head Coach Lenny Wilkens further distinguished himself
by reaching a pair of milestones in February. Wilkens won his
1,100th career game on February 10 at Milwaukee and coached his
2,000th career regular season NBA contest on February 18 against
New Jersey.
Smith earned his first All-Star berth, joining teammate
Dikembe Mutombo on the East squad. Smith led the Hawks in scoring
at 20.1 ppg and was also the winner of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship
Award in recognition of his outstanding community service and
charitable work. Mutombo had another strong season in the middle,
averaging 14.4 points, 11.4 rebounds (fourth in the NBA) and 3.38
blocks (second) per game. At season's end, he was named the NBA's
Defensive Player of the Year.
Smith and Mutombo weren't the only Hawks honored
in the postseason. Alan Henderson was named the league's Most
Improved Player, while Blaylock led the NBA in steals. Individual
achievements didn't translate to team success in the postseason.
A first round matchup with Charlotte went the Hornets' way in
four games, leaving Atlanta looking forward to next year and another
run at an NBA title in their brand-new state-of-the-art arena.
In the cavernous Georgia Dome, the Hawks broke the
all-time NBA single-game attendance mark, drawing 62,046 fans
against the Chicago Bulls. The Hawks also broke the franchise
all-time single-season home attendance record, averaging 17,450.
1998-99: Hawks Leave Nest; Defense Doesn't Rest
Despite being a team without a full-time home
during the lockout-shortened season, the Atlanta Hawks finished
with a winning record (31-19) for the seventh consecutive year
and reached the second round of the playoffs.
Atlanta got the job done with defense, setting an
NBA record by allowing only 83.4 points per game. Dikembe Mutombo
and Mookie Blaylock led the way, with Mutombo averaging 2.94 blocks
(fourth in NBA) and Blaylock notching 2.06 steals per game (10th).
In the first round of the playoffs, the Hawks beat
Detroit in five games. New York eliminated Atlanta in four games
in the next round. Starting forward Alan Henderson played only
four minutes in the postseason because of an eye injury.
Three starters missed significant time during the
regular season: LaPhonso Ellis sat out the final 30 games and
all of the playoffs because of a sports hernia, leading scorer
Steve Smith (18.7 ppg) missed 14 games with knee problems, and
Henderson was out for 12 games with back, tailbone and eye injuries.
The Hawks played at Georgia Tech and in the Georgia
Dome because The Omni, which opened in 1972, was demolished to
make room for the team's new home, Philips Arena, which was scheduled
to open for the 1999-2000 season.
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1999-2000: Memorable for the Wrong Reasons
The 1999-2000 season turned out to be memorable
for all the wrong reasons. After pulling even to a 9-9 record
in early December, the Hawks went just 19-45 the remainder of
the season. The 28-54 record was the poorest in Atlanta history.
The season did see the opening of the state-of-the-art
Philips Arena, in which the Hawks still managed to record a 21-20
mark for the season. Rookie Jason Terry brought hope for the future,
as the 10th overall pick was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie second
team.
Dikembe Mutombo was once again named to the Eastern
Conference All-Star team and won the NBA rebounding title for
the first time in his career. He also finished second in blocked
shots and field goal percentage.
Following the season, head coach Lenny Wilkens elected
to resign his position, setting the stage for the Lon Kruger era.
Kruger, who spent 18 years as a college coach at Pan American,
Kansas State, Florida and Illinois looked to duplicate his success
on the pro level.
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2000-01: Kruger Takes Over, Rebuilding Begins
While 2000-01 was not a successful season from
a won-loss standpoint, a strong foundation was laid, and the subsequent
offseason provided an excitement level unmatched in recent years.
Despite being on the losing end of the most contests
in franchise history (57), Lon Kruger’s group showed outstanding
effort on a nightly basis and the team’s attitude did not go unnoticed.
Jason Terry avoided the sophomore jinx in a big
way leading the team with 19.7 ppg, the highest by a Hawk since
Steve Smith’s 20.1 output in 1997-98. A mid-season trade changed
the look of the team’s future, as center Dikembe Mutombo was traded
to the Philadelphia 76ers for three talents - Theo Ratliff, Toni
Kukoc and Nazr Mohammed.
Ratliff was named the Eastern Conference’s starting
center in the 2001 NBA All-Star Game, but was unable to play due
to a fractured wrist. That injury also pushed his Hawks debut
back to the 2001-02 season.
Three-time NBA champ Kukoc and the unheralded Mohammed
both made major contributions, with Mohammed playing so well he
was re-signed in the offseason.
The draft day acquisition of the Grizzlies’ Shareef-Abdur
Rahim provided a tremendous amount of buzz around the league,
as the experienced, yet young 2000 U.S. Olympian will now lead
his hometown team.
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2001-02: Improvement Evident, Despite Rash of Injuries
Unfortunately, injuries became the lead story
of 2001-02, as the Hawks lost an NBA-high 319 games missed due
to injury/illness.
While there were some terriffic individual performances
- Shareef Abdur Rahim’s All-Star appearance, 50-point game and
all-around consistent play - the loss of Theo Ratliff for 79 of
the season’s 82 games proved too much to overcome in a 33-49 campaign.
Jason Terry also shined, averaging 19.3 ppg (his
second straight season over 19 ppg), while the exciting DerMarr
Johnson showed significant development over his rookie season.
The Hawks delivered a solid performance over the
second half of the season, going 17-16 following the All-Star
break (after a 16-33 first half).
Ira Newble, signed in mid-January, brought a toughness
and defensive presence to the club, starting 35 of 42 games in
which he played.
The summer of 2002 saw another draft night trade,
as the Hawks acquired Gonzaga point guard Dan Dickau from the
Sacramento Kings in exchange for a future first-round pick. In
the second round, Atlanta selected Australian David Andersen (37th
overall).
An early August trade added All-Star forward Glenn
Robinson to the Hawks roster, bringing one of the league’s best
mid-range shooters and scorers to the Atlanta roster.
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