- NBA Championships: 1
- Last NBA Championship: 1958
- Claim to Fame: 18 former Hawks players have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
- Claim to Shame: The Hawks orchestrated one of the most boneheaded trades of all time by sending Bill Russell to the Celtics for Ed Macauley. Russell would go onto earn five MVP awards and win 11 championships in 13 years.
The last time the Hawks won an NBA championship Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the Oval Office, Elvis had just been inducted into the Army, and a bottle of Coke cost just five cents. In fact, it was so long ago that the team still called St. Louis home.
The Hawks didn’t officially move to the Peach State until 1968, but they picked up right where they left off, making five straight playoff appearances. A stretch of mediocrity followed, and Atlanta didn’t become relevant again until the early 1980’s after acquiring Dominique Wilkins in trade with the Utah Jazz. The high-flying forward transformed the team into a perennial contender and guided the Hawks to eight playoff appearances over the next 11 years.
Atlanta spent much of the next decade retooling their roster and embarked on a string of 10-straight playoff appearances beginning in 2008. That particular stretch was highlighted by a franchise-best 60-win season in 2014-15 that culminated in the team’s first division title in over 20 years.
The Hawks fell back to earth in 2017-18 after gutting their roster and embarking on an aggressive rebuild. The team won just 24 games and finished 21st in defensive rating and 26th in offensive rating and plus/minus.
Atlanta should be marginally better this year after nabbing electrifying point guard Trae Young in the NBA Draft but its young and inexperienced roster still has more holes than mesh bag. Like it or not, it could be a while before the Hawks are flying high again.
