Steve Smith ‘the Compassionate’
The Hawks had quite a roster with players like Steve Smith aboard. Not only was Steve Smith a basketball player with a large fan following, he was a gentleman of accord too. He was one of the most popular players of the Hawks back
in the 1990’s. He was also a well known philanthropist and was recently awarded with the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for his efforts.
Isaiah Rider ‘the Problem Child’
In a turn of events, the Hawks traded Steve Smith to Portland and in his place they got Isaiah Rider and Jim Jackson. Steve Smith and Isaiah Rider were two very different people. Isaiah Rider was a problem child in stark contrast
to Steve Smith’s gentleman. Rider had a list of behavior problems on and off the court. The Hawks faced a great deal of trouble in the handling of Rider. He would be late for games and even missed the first day of training camp. His irresponsible attitude
was finally reported when he was found smoking marijuana in a hotel room in Orlando during a road trip. This called for a serious response from the league. He was fined a penalty of $200,000 until he finally decided to go away. He couldn’t however improve
his behavior even after that and showed up late for a March game. This resulted in him being showed the door.
In the next season to come Jim Jackson was also traded away. The trade of Smith and Rider made the Hawks pay a very high price as the team was not able to appear in the playoffs for a period of nine years.
Pau Gasol, a Spanish player, was drafted by the Hawks in 2001. He was also traded over to the Memphis Grizzlies in place of Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
Sunshine after a long cold Winter
The Hawks were fortunate enough to have Rasheed Wallace the champion play one game for them. Who wouldn’t let the sun shine on their faces after a long and cold winter? Rasheed Wallace was an NBA All Star from Portland who was
traded in place of Shareef Abdur Rahim, Dan Dickau and Theo Ratliff. Wesley Person was also traded along with Rasheed Wallace. Wallace in his efforts while playing against New Jersey Nets for the Hawks scored 20 points, 5 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal too.
The Hawks however lost to the New Jersey Nets. But their spirits were raised by Wallace.
The team then underwent a three-way trade with their rivals the Boston Celtics. The new addition to the team were guard Bobby Sura, center Zelijko Rebraca, a first round draft pick and Chris Mills.
The Struggle Continues
The long slog continued even after the team was sold to a group of executives called the Atlanta Spirit LLC in March 2004. The Hawks were in a sorry state in the season of 2004-05. They only had a total of 13 victories to their
credit which was even less than the Charlotte Bobcats, who had 18 to their credit.
In 2005, the Hawks with an unimpressive record only managed number a two pick in the NBA Draft. The Hawks picked out Marvin Williams. He was from the University of North Carolina. After that Shelden Williams was added to the team
with the fifth overall pick in 2006. The Hawks also drafted Josh Childress and Josh Smith to the team last year.
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