Atlanta Hawks Overview
The Atlanta Hawks are a professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia, competing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise has played its home games at State Farm Arena since the 1999-2000 season and wears torch red, legacy yellow, infinity black, and gray as its official team colors. The Hawks captured one NBA Championship in 1958 while the franchise was based in St. Louis, and the team has reached the NBA Finals four times, all against the Boston Celtics. Owned by Tony Ressler and managed by Chief Executive Officer Steve Koonin, the Atlanta Hawks are affiliated with the College Park Skyhawks of the NBA G League.
Founding and Organizational Origins
The Atlanta Hawks franchise was founded in 1946 as the Buffalo Bisons in Buffalo, New York, organized by Leo Ferris and Ben Kerner as a member of the National Basketball League. The team lasted only 38 days in Buffalo before relocating to Moline, Illinois, where they were renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and joined the NBA in 1949 as part of the merger between the NBL and the Basketball Association of America. The franchise continued to move, becoming the Milwaukee Hawks in 1951 before settling in St. Louis in 1955 as the St. Louis Hawks, where the team built its most competitive era and won its only NBA Championship in 1958.
In 1968, Ben Kerner sold the Hawks to Atlanta real estate developer Tom Cousins and former Georgia governor Carl Sanders, and the franchise relocated to Atlanta for the 1968-69 season. The team played its first four Atlanta seasons at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech campus while a new arena was constructed. The Omni Coliseum opened for the 1972-73 season as part of a major Atlanta sports complex, and cable entrepreneur Ted Turner purchased the franchise in 1977, providing financial stability and keeping professional sports in Atlanta through several decades of organizational change. Ownership transitioned again in 2015 when Tony Ressler led a group to acquire the franchise, with Steve Koonin serving as Chief Executive Officer and Onsi Saleh as General Manager.
Growth Into NBA Competition
After joining the NBA in 1949 as one of the league original 17 teams, the Hawks initially struggled to compete at the highest level despite drafting future Hall of Fame guard Bob Cousy with the third overall pick in 1950. The franchise moved to Milwaukee in 1951 before relocating to St. Louis in 1955, and the turning point came in 1954 when the team drafted Bob Pettit, who captured the first official NBA Most Valuable Player award in 1956 and transformed the Hawks into a premier franchise. During the St. Louis era, the Hawks reached the NBA Finals four consecutive times from 1957 through 1961, winning the championship in 1958 and establishing a standard of excellence that defined the organization.
Atlanta Hawks Competitive Journey
The Hawks have competed through nearly eight decades of NBA history, relocating through five cities and evolving from a traveling franchise into one of the NBA most recognized brands. The 1968 move to Atlanta marked a new era that produced legendary players like Dominique Wilkins and Pete Maravich, and the franchise entered a sustained competitive period in the 1980s before enduring a lengthy playoff drought from 1999 through 2007. A breakout 2014-15 season under head coach Mike Budenholzer brought the Hawks back to national prominence, and the franchise has continued to evolve through eras featuring Joe Johnson, Al Horford, and Trae Young.
Early Seasons and Development (1946-1967)
During the Buffalo, Tri-Cities, Milwaukee, and St. Louis years, the Hawks were a franchise in constant motion, playing in small markets that could not sustain NBA attendance. The move to St. Louis in 1955 stabilized the operation and coincided with the Bob Pettit era, during which the Hawks became an NBA powerhouse and won the 1958 championship with a 4-2 series victory over the Boston Celtics. The Hawks reached the NBA Finals four times in St. Louis, all against the Celtics, and captured five consecutive Western Division titles from 1957 through 1961.
Despite the on-court success, arena conditions at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis deteriorated over time, and owner Ben Kerner sought a modern facility that would allow the franchise to retain all revenue from games. When local officials repeatedly rebuffed his proposals for a new building, Kerner sold the Hawks to Tom Cousins and Carl Sanders in 1968, and the franchise moved to Atlanta. The team played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum for four seasons while the Omni Coliseum was constructed, winning its first Atlanta division title in the 1969-70 season with a 48-34 record.
Breakthrough in the NBA (2014-2015)
The 2014-15 season under head coach Mike Budenholzer represented the most successful campaign in Atlanta Hawks history. The Hawks started the season with remarkable intensity and set an NBA record by going 17-0 in January 2015, becoming the first team in league history to achieve a perfect month. The Hawks finished the regular season with a franchise-best 60-22 record, won the Southeast Division title for the first time in over two decades, and earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Four Hawks players — Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, and Al Horford — were selected to the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, marking the first time an Eastern Conference team had sent four players to the All-Star Game since Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Ron Harper represented the Chicago Bulls in 1996.
The Hawks defeated the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards in six games each in the opening two playoff rounds, advancing past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1967, when the franchise was still based in St. Louis. Atlanta reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history, where they faced the Cleveland Cavaliers and ultimately lost in four games. The 2015 season also saw Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll combine for 40 points in a 130-105 victory over the Sacramento Kings that locked up the 50-win milestone, and the Hawks set a franchise record by making 20 three-pointers in that game.
Modern Program and Current Direction (2018-Present)
The Hawks selected Luka Doncic with the third overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft and immediately traded him to the Dallas Mavericks for Trae Young, beginning a new franchise era centered on the young point guard. Young became the first Hawks player to start in an NBA All-Star Game since Dikembe Mutombo in 1998, earning All-Star starter honors in 2020, and under head coach Quin Snyder, the Hawks captured the Southeast Division title in the 2020-21 season and reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in franchise history. That playoff run was highlighted by a series-clinching victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, a historic upset that ended the franchise long second-round drought.
The 2024-25 season brought significant roster and leadership change, beginning with the Hawks selecting Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, the franchise first top selection since 1975. Dyson Daniels earned the Kia NBA Most Improved Player of the Year award after setting a franchise record with 229 steals in a single season. The 2025 offseason saw the Hawks acquire Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a four-year contract, sign Luke Kennard to a one-year deal, and draft forward Asa Newell and center Zuby Ejiofor in the 2025 NBA draft. The Hawks completed a major transition in January 2026 by trading Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, with Kristaps Porzingis and Jonathan Kuminga joining the roster through subsequent trades, before finishing the 2025-26 season with a 42-40 record and a first-round playoff appearance.
Philosophy and Competitive Strengths
The Atlanta Hawks emphasize an offensive style built on ball movement, perimeter shooting, and guard-driven playmaking, an approach that produced some of the franchise most exciting basketball during the Trae Young era. Defensive intensity and rebounding have been recurring organizational priorities, and the current roster under Quin Snyder blends veteran experience with young talent. Dyson Daniels earned league recognition as the Most Improved Player in 2024-25, and Jalen Johnson emerged as a consistent All-Star-caliber forward before season-ending injuries affected the team rotation in 2024-25.
Key Milestones and Major Moments
The Hawks first NBA Championship came in 1958 in St. Louis when Bob Pettit scored 50 points in the Game 6 clincher against the Boston Celtics, a milestone that remains the franchise only title after nearly 70 seasons. Dominique Wilkins remains the Hawks all-time leading scorer with 23,292 points and won the Slam Dunk Contest in 1985 and 1990, while the 2014-15 17-0 January run and the franchise-record 60-win season stand among the greatest achievements in Atlanta history. The Hawks earned their first Southeast Division title since 1994 in 2015, reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history that same season, and repeated the Southeast Division championship in 2021 while reaching the Conference Finals for the second time.
Atlanta Hawks Achievements and Results
The Atlanta Hawks have compiled one NBA Championship, 13 division championships, and multiple deep playoff runs spanning nearly eight decades of league competition. The franchise has qualified for the NBA playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons between 2008 and 2017, one of only four teams in the NBA to achieve that feat in the 21st century, and reached the Eastern Conference Finals in both 2015 and 2021.
NBA League Achievements
The Atlanta Hawks captured their only NBA Championship in 1958 as the St. Louis Hawks, defeating the Boston Celtics 4-2 in the NBA Finals behind a 50-point performance from Bob Pettit in the decisive game. The franchise reached the NBA Finals four consecutive times from 1957 through 1961, all against the Celtics, and won three Western Division championships during that span. The Hawks 2014-15 60-22 campaign remains the finest regular season in team history, and the franchise reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015 and again in 2021, representing two of the deepest playoff runs in Atlanta history.