The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional team based in Atlanta. They were established in 1946. They are currently a member of the Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team has a very rich history despite not much championship success. They have had their fair share of Hall of Fame-level talent. Along with this, they have had eras in their history in which they went on very successful runs throughout their decades as an NBA franchise. Throughout the long history of the team, the Hawks played in Buffalo, Tri-Cities, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Atlanta.
Buffalo Bisons, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and Milwaukee Hawks
The origin of the Atlanta Hawks can be drawn back to 1946 when the Buffalo Bisons were officially established. The team was founded by Leo Farris and the Erie County American Legion. This was an era before the NBA or even the ABA were in existence. As a result of this, the Buffalo Bisons were a member of the National Basketball League. In the first game of the franchise’s history, they defeated the Syracuse Nationals by a final score of 50-36.
In the team’s first season, William Gates and William King were members of the team. While they are both names that were lost in history they were two of the first African American players to ever play in the National Basketball League. The Bisons only lasted in Buffalo for a little over a month before they decided to uproot the franchise and the team moved to Moline, Illinois.
The team rebranded to become the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. The Tri-Cities Blackhawks became one of the first teams to join the NBA after a merger with the National Basketball League. In the first year after the move, the Blackhawks brought in one of the greatest head coaches of all-time in Red Auerbach.
The Blackhawks had a keen eye in the draft and selected future Hall of Famer, Bob Cousey. However, after being unable to reach a deal with Cousey, the team moved him to the Chicago Stags in the form of a trade. Cousey would then force his way out of Chicago and become a member of the Boston Celtics.
After finding that the Tri-Cities are was unable to support an up-and-coming NBA franchise, the owners once again decided to move the team. This time settling in Milwaukee and rebranding to become the Milwaukee Hawks.
St. Louis Hawks & Bob Pettit
The second era of the Atlanta Hawks team history is the St. Louis Era and the emergence of Bob Pettit being the first true face of the franchise for the Atlanta Hawks. The Milwaukee Hawks drafted Pettit in the 1954 draft, and shortly after the team moved from Milwaukee to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Hawks. In the 1956 draft, the St. Louis Hawks made a decision that would go on to haunt the franchise for years.
They made the incredible decision of drafting one of the greatest centers of all-time in Bill Russell, however, they made the boneheaded mistake of trading him to the Boston Celtics. Russell would go on to be the winningest player in the history of the NBA. At the time of his retirement, Russell finished his career with twelve NBA Finals appearances and eleven NBA Finals wins. This would go on to sting for St. Louis fans even more as a pairing of Pettit and Russell would have dominated the entire NBA for well over a decade. Russell would go on to beat St. Louis in the NBA Finals multiple times throughout his career.
Relocation to Atlanta
In their early years as the Atlanta Hawks, the team went through an era in which they would draft some of the team’s greatest players. The team featured former greats Pistol Pete Maravich along with Lou Hudson. Despite having this talent, the team went through a slight rebuilding process. This culminated in the team holding the first and third overall picks in the 1975 NBA draft. With those picks, they selected Hall of Famer David Thompson and Marvin Webster. Despite being drafted by the Hawks, contract negotiations fell through and both players would end up signing with the Denver Nuggets in the ABA and never playing a single second for the Atlanta Hawks.
The Dominique Wilkins Era
This era of the Atlanta Hawks featured the best and most prolific scorers in team history. That player, of course, is Dominique Wilkins. If Wilkins had come into the league a little bit before he did, he would have possibly been known as the best of his era and it would have led to a lot more team success for the Atlanta Hawks. However, with his prime lining up with the run of dominance Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls had, Wilkins and the Hawks teams of this era can at times be lost to history.
Who is the greatest Atlanta Hawk of all time?
Wilkins was one of if not the most exciting player to watch to ever wear an Atlanta Hawks jersey. Although he never made it to even the NBA Finals or even the Eastern Conference Finals, at this point, he is the most talented player to ever don a Hawks jersey. This was a time in which the Eastern Conference was loaded and the Hawks lost to the eventual winner of the Eastern Conference twice during this era. He finished his career averaging 24.8 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, and 2.5 assists per game.
The Joe Johnson Era
This era was a very dark one for the Hawks. After losing Wilkins, the Hawks lost a lot of games year after year and were forced into a massive rebuild. This rebuild would slow when the team traded for Joe Johnson. Iso Joe had Hawks fans the entire city of Atlanta around his finger during this era.
Despite the addition of Johnson to the team, they still had the worst record in the league and received the second overall pick (the first went to the Milwaukee Bucks). Along with this, the Hawks would continue to build up their roster by drafting Al Horford in the 2007 NBA draft. The rebuild would officially come to a close in the 2008-2009 season in which the Hawks won 47 games. This was their first winning season since 1999.
The Mike Budenholzer Era
There was a lot of roster turnover from the Joe Johnson to the Mike Budenholzer era. The Budenholzer era came to a head in the 2015 season. This was a year in which the Hawks dominated the regular season. The Hawks won the most games in the Eastern Conference and took the one seed in the East.
Along with this, they had a remarkable four All-Stars in a single season. This is something that we have not seen since. The season would end up concluding with the Hawks matching up against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the incredible season, the Hawks had put together, they were not enough for James in his prime and they conceited the series in a 4-0 sweep.
The Trae Young Era
The final era of the Hawks history that we will be covering is the Trae Young era. Once Buddenholzer’s era came to an end and the four previous All-Stars had been moved from the team, the Hawks were once again left at square one with a depleted roster and no championships to show for it. However, they are well on their way to once again being a contending team due to one player. That player being Trae Young. Young was selected by the Dallas Mavericks, however, was a part of a draft-day trade that sent him to Atlanta and Luka Doncic to the Mavericks.
This may end up being another draft-day decision that comes back to haunt Atlanta as Doncic is already considered one of the best in the league and even was a potential MVP candidate coming into this season. Even with Doncic exploding onto the scene as an elite player even in his rookie year, Trae Young is one of the best consolation prizes a team could ask for.
Young has already proven himself as a franchise player in his three short seasons in the league. He is an elite scorer and the best young shooter in the league. While he has already drawn comparisons to Stephen Curry, he is not quite there yet. However, even being compared to the best shooter the game has ever seen so quickly into a career is quite the compliment and something that should get fans very excited.
The Hawks have begun to build their roster around players that complement Young’s game and it has been something that has worked wonders for the franchise already. While their rebuild is not completely finished yet, they are on the right track and last year’s playoffs are proof of that. They went on a magical run in the playoffs, taking down the New York Knicks in the first round, the first seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and they were eventually defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Time will tell if last season’s playoffs were a sign of things to come for the young and exciting Hawks team or if it was just a fluke year and the highest peak they will reach during the Trae Young era.
Notable Players
As previously mentioned, there are a handful of NBA legends that have played for the Atlanta Hawks. We will only be covering two of those legends as they were truly the franchise-defining players for the Hawks.
Bob Pettit
The first player chronologically that was an all-time great for the Hawks was Bob Pettit. Pettit was the second overall pick of the 1954 NBA draft. Through his legendary career with the Hawks, he was an eleven-time All-Star, a two-time scoring champion, a one-time rebounding champion, an eleven-time member of the All-NBA team, a four-time All-Star game MVP, a two time MVP, Rookie of the Year, a one time NBA champion, a member of the NBA All-75 team, and a Hall of Famer. He retired with averages of 26.4 points, 16.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game shooting 43.6% from the field (they did not record blocks or steals during his playing career.
Dominique Wilkins
The final Hawks great that will be covered individually is Dominique Wilkins. Wilkins retired as a nine-time NBA All-Star, a one-time scoring champion, a seven-time member of the All-NBA team, a member of the 1982-1983 All-Rookie team, a member of the NBA-75 team, and a Hall of Famer. Wilkins also was one of only five players in the history of the league to win the dunk contest twice.
NBA Finals History
While the Hawks have gone through eras in which they have had a plethora of talent on their team, for one reason or another, they have not really led to that much postseason success. Currently, the Hawks have four NBA Finals appearances (1957, 1958,1960, and 1961).
When was the last time the Atlanta Hawks won a championship?
In their four appearances, they only have one championship as a franchise, coming in the 1958 season. There is a chance that number could go up as it would be hard to believe that Trae Young will end up retiring without a ring. However, for the time being, the Hawks will continue to be known as a franchise that normally is solid, just not quite there yet.
