Origin
As the name suggests the Atlanta Hawks originate from Atlanta, Georgia. The franchise laid its foundation stone in 1946, and they were originally known as the Buffalo Bisons, quite the opposite of the present day Hawks. The team
was moved to Moline, Illinois by the initial owner Ben Kerner on Dec 27, 1946. This moving prompted a name change to the Tri-Cities Hawks by Kerner. The ‘Hawk’ tag itself may have come from the Black Hawk War which was fought in Illinois and Michigan, the
team possibly inspired by the Sauk War Chief Black Hawk.
Opting into the NBA
In 1949 the 12 year old National Basketball Association and the 3 years old Basketball Association of America merged together again under the name National Basketball Association or the NBA. Luckily, the Blackhawks were also selected
as one of the original teams and so they became a part of one of the world’s most popular games.
The Blackhawks didn’t have a very brilliant start though. They started off reaching the playoffs in the first year of the NBA. But it was hard going for the Hawks when they traded their star Bob Clousy to the Chicago Stags. This
resulted in them not qualifying for the postseason.
Their journey continued and the team was then moved to Milwaukee in 1951, and this brought forward the Milwaukee Hawks. Hard struggle still didn’t pay off that well for them and they were not a very successful team even after
drafting Bob Petit.
NBA Finals and the Boston Celtics
St. Louis must have had a blessing for the Hawks, because when they moved to St. Luois, Missouri in 1955, they initially moved to the finals of NBA in 1957. Though they faced defeat at the hands of the Bolton Celtics in that very
tournament, in 1958, the Hawks retreated and came forward to the NBA Finals again. They stood up as Champions against the previous year’s rivals, the Boston Celtics, with 4-2 points, hence proving to the world that winners somehow find their way. The large
crowd cheered for Bob Pettit as he scored 50 points in game 6. This was the one and only NBA Championship to their record.
The Celtics could not forget their defeat and after that whenever they faced the Hawks, they would not let them win despite the success of the Hawks.
A Game of Luck and Chance
The team faced many collisions and travelled from one arena to the other. They also saved a few titles to their credit and struggled hard. After years of struggle and rebuilding, their efforts finally started paying off. They were
the 1st and 3rd picks in the NBA Draft in 1975. Luck shined on the Hawks once again when the NBA picked Bob Thompson and Marvin Webster by signing ABA franchises.
50 wins = 1980
Under the supervision of Coach Hubie Brown, the Hawks advanced to win the Central Division and stood up having 50 wins to their credit in 1980. They were the only NBA team in Southeastern United States by that time. Dominique Wilkins
was given the ownership of the franchise in 1982 and in 1983 Mike Fratello became the Head Coach. The Hawks played 12 home games in the next two years at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Hawks scored 6-6 in Louisiana and the games were paid
by Barry Mendelson worth around $1.2 million.
Semifinal Blockages
The team faced victories and defeats and even though it was one of the classified teams of the league in the 1985-1989 era, the Hawks could not move ahead to the semifinals of the Eastern Conference playoffs. In 1993, Lenny Wilkens
became the Head Coach. Under the brilliant coaching of Lenny Wilkens, the team scored its highest record of 57 victories. The team however lost six games to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern semis. The team lost its grounds when Dominique Wilkins was traded
for Danny Manning. Dominique was the highlight of the team and he was an all-time leading scorer. After a series of ups and downs the Hawks added two more notches to their belt by winning two more 50+ win seasons in the years 1997 and 1998. The Hawks clutched
and caught a 31 win campaign with its paws in 1999 season but they were never lucky enough to cross the second round of the playoffs.
Continued in Part 2
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