| Atlanta Hawks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 2024–25 Atlanta Hawks season | |||||
 | |||||
| Conference | Eastern | ||||
| Division | Southeast | ||||
| Founded | 1946 | ||||
| History | Buffalo Bisons 1946 (NBL) Tri-Cities Blackhawks 1946–1949 (NBL) 1949–1951 (NBA) Milwaukee Hawks 1951–1955 St. Louis Hawks 1955–1968 Atlanta Hawks 1968–present[1][2] | ||||
| Arena | State Farm Arena | ||||
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia | ||||
| Team colors | Torch red, legacy yellow, infinity black, granite gray[3][4][5] | ||||
| Main sponsor | YMCA of Metro Atlanta[6] | ||||
| CEO | Steve Koonin | ||||
| General manager | Landry Fields | ||||
| Head coach | Quin Snyder | ||||
| Ownership | Tony Ressler (principal owner)[7] | ||||
| Affiliation(s) | College Park Skyhawks | ||||
| Championships | 1 (1958) | ||||
| Conference titles | 0 | ||||
| Division titles | 12 (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1980, 1987, 1994, 2015, 2021) | ||||
| Retired numbers | 5 (9, 21, 23, 44, 55) | ||||
| Website | nba.com/hawks | ||||
| |||||
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at State Farm Arena.
The team's origins can be traced to the establishment of the Buffalo Bisons in 1946 in Buffalo, New York, a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) owned by Ben Kerner and Leo Ferris.[8] After 38 days in Buffalo, the team moved to Moline, Illinois, where they were renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks.[9] In 1949, they joined the NBA as part of the merger between the NBL and the Basketball Association of America (BAA), and briefly had Red Auerbach as coach. In 1951, Kerner moved the team to Milwaukee, where they changed their name to the Milwaukee Hawks. Kerner and the team moved again in 1955 to St. Louis, where they won their first (and thus far only) NBA Championship in 1958 and qualified to play in the NBA Finals in 1957, 1960 and 1961. The Hawks played the Boston Celtics in all four of their trips to the NBA Finals. The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta on May 3, 1968, when Kerner sold the franchise to Thomas Cousins and former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders.[10][11]
The Hawks currently own the second-longest drought (behind the Sacramento Kings) of not winning an NBA championship at 64 seasons. The franchise's lone NBA championship, as well as all four NBA Finals appearances, occurred when the team was based in St. Louis. Meanwhile, they went 48 years without advancing past the second round of the playoffs in any format, until finally breaking through in 2015. However, the Hawks are one of only four NBA teams that have qualified to play in the NBA playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons in the 21st century. They achieved this feat between 2008 and 2017.
In the 2024 NBA draft, the Atlanta Hawks selected Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick, their first since 1975.
- ^ "NBA.com/Stats–Atlanta Hawks". Stats.NBA.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- ^ "Franchise History–NBA Advanced Stats". NBA.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ "NBA LockerVision - Atlanta Hawks - Icon Edition - Story Guide". LockerVision.NBA.com. NBA Properties, Inc. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
The Atlanta Hawks Icon Edition uniform mirrors the build of the Association Edition. A torch red base with white filled numbers, letters and marks are bordered in legacy yellow. The side inserts of white and yellow stripes run the length of the full jersey and short. The shorts include the Hawk's Primary Icon logo on each side and the secondary logo on the waistband.
- ^ "Hawks look to past with new uniform set". NBA.com (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. July 21, 2020. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ "Atlanta Hawks Reproduction and Usage Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc. Archived from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ "YMCA OF METRO ATLANTA AND ATLANTA HAWKS ANNOUNCE TRANSFORMATIVE JERSEY PATCH PARTNERSHIP". Hawks.com (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. November 20, 2023. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ "Group Led By Tony Ressler Completes Purchase of Atlanta Hawks". Hawks.com (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. June 25, 2015. Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ Wagner, Andrew (June 21, 2021). "Long Before The Bucks Were Born, Milwaukee Was Home Of The Hawks". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 23, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
The Hawks have called Atlanta home since 1968, the same season the Bucks joined the NBA as an expansion team, but the franchise itself dates back to 1946 when it was known as the Buffalo Bisons and a member of the fledgling National Basketball League.
- ^ Markazi, Arash (October 3, 2015). "Long-forgotten Leo Ferris helped devise NBA's 24-second clock, first used 61 years ago today". ESPN. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
- ^ "1966-68: "Sweet Lou" Makes His Debut–Franchise History". Hawks.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
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.
- ^ "This Date in the NBA: May". NBA.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. September 13, 2021. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
May 3, 1968–It is announced that the St. Louis Hawks would move to Atlanta for the 1968-69 season, under the guidance of new owners Tom Cousins and former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders.