ATLANTA HAWKS FRANCHISE HISTORY
Previous Franchise Names: St. Louis Hawks, Milwaukee Hawks, Tri-Cities Blackhawks
Principal Owner: Tony Ressler
CEO: Steve Koonin
President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach: Mike Budenholzer
Best Season: 2014-15 (60-22, .732)
Playoff Appearances: 44
NBA Championships: 1, 1957-58 St. Louis Hawks
1970: “Pistol” Pete Maravich #44 of the Atlanta Hawks drives to the basket during an NBA game circa 1970. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1970 NBAE (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)
The franchise now known as the Atlanta Hawks began as the Buffalo Bisons of the old National Basketball League in 1946, moving to Moline, Ill., and being renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks during their inaugural season.
In 1949, the Blackhawks joined the new NBA—a merger of the older NBL and the newer, more well-heeled Basketball Association of America—and moved to Milwaukee for the 1951-52 season, shortening their name to Hawks.
After four unsuccessful seasons in Wisconsin, the franchise was on the move again in 1955 to St. Louis, where the Hawks enjoyed their greatest success, winning the NBA title in 1957-58 and appearing in four NBA Finals in a five-year span from 1957-61, fueled by stars such as future Hall of Famers Bob Pettit and Cliff Hagan.
Those are the only Finals appearances in franchise history.
In 1968, the club was sold and moved to Atlanta, where it remains today. The Atlanta Hawks have enjoyed some regular-season success, but their trip to the conference finals in 2014-15 was the team’s first since the NBA realigned in the conference format in 1970-71.
While in Atlanta, the Hawks have enjoyed star performances from Pete Maravich, Lou Hudson, Dominique Wilkins and Joe Johnson.
Richie Guerin, who coached the Hawks in both St. Louis and Atlanta from the middle of the 1964-65 season through the end of 1971-72, remains the franchise’s winningest coach with a regular-season record of 327-291 and a playoff mark of 26-34. Guerin took the team to the division finals (the forerunner to today’s conference finals) four times in eight seasons.
UNITED STATES – FEBRUARY 06: asketball: NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Atlanta Hawks Dominique Wilkins (21) in action, making dunk during All Star Weekend, View of scoreboard at Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL 2/6/1988 (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) (SetNumber: X36131 TK1)
Atlanta Hawks Career Leaders (as of 3/9/2016)
- Games, Dominique Wilkins, 882
- Points, Dominique Wilkins, 23292
- Rebounds, Bob Pettit, 12849
- Assists, Doc Rivers, 3866
- Steals, Mookie Blaylock, 1321
- Blocks, Tree Rollins, 2283
Atlanta Hawks Retired Numbers
- 9, Bob Pettit
- 17, Ted Turner
- 21, Dominique Wilkins
- 23, Lou Hudson
- 40, Jason Collier
- 55, Dikembe Mutombo
BOSTON, MA – CIRCA 1965: Bob Pettit #9 of the St. Louis Hawks in action against the Boston Celtics during an NBA basketball game circa 1965 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Pettit played for the Hawks from 1954-65. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Atlanta Hawks Official Links
Official Team Site: nba.com/hawks
Official Twitter Handle: @ATLHawks
Official Facebook Page: Atlanta Hawks
Official Instagram Page: Atlanta Hawks
Official Arena Page: Phillips Arena
Atlanta Hawks Beat Writers
Chris Vivlamore, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, @cvivlamoreajc
Michael Cunningham, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Matt Winkeljohn, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, @mwinkeljohn
Related Atlanta Hawks Blogs and Links
Atlanta Hawks Logo History, courtesy of Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net
Salary Page: Atlanta Hawks Salaries at Spotrac
FanSided Atlanta Hawks: Soaring Down South
SB Nation Atlanta Hawks: Peachtree Hoops
ESPN TrueHoop Atlanta Hawks: HawksHoop
HoopsHabit Atlanta Hawks Archive: Atlanta Hawks
Bleacher Report Atlanta Hawks Team Stream: Atlanta Hawks
RealGM Atlanta Hawks Page: Atlanta Hawks
Stats and retired number information courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com
