Everybody likes a winner. Cities are no different when it comes to professional sports. Most any metropolis would love to have a championship-caliber team to brag about.
Atlanta has plenty to offer, but projects a dim image as a championship sports town. We seem stuck in an everlasting drought, cursed as sub-par contenders for a national title of any stripe. Our fan base generally expects the Braves, Falcons and Hawks to pull up short in the regular season and the playoffs. If they qualify.
Yet when presented a sports team that plays well day-in and day-out, that has quality players who personify consistency and competitiveness, we notice. Look no further than the Atlanta Hawks’ 2014-2015 season. The gritty play of Jeff Teague & Co. was fun to watch and gave even fair-weather fans something to talk about. Squad play created a town buzz reminiscent of the dueling days of “the human highlight film,” former star Dominique Wilkins.
Suffice it to say, the team’s success surprised many. A franchise-record 60 regular season wins. First-ever berth in the Eastern Conference Finals. Coach of the year honors. Amazingly, these feats were accomplished while the Hawks’ house was asunder and swirled in controversy.
That brouhaha became a broader community concern because it put this great metro in the national spotlight in an unfavorable way. Thus, the team’s stellar season mattered more than usual because it helped refurbish the image of both the team and the city it calls home.
Which was a great ending to an off-the-court season that began last September, when Hawks’ controlling owner Bruce Levenson self-reported to the NBA that, two years earlier, he had sent a racially charged e-mail about the fan base and game operations to then-general manager Danny Ferry. And because of that, Levenson told the NBA brass he would sell the franchise.
In his missive, Levenson stated, among other things, that white fans might be afraid of black ones. Moreover, he noted the black cheerleaders and hip-hop music at games and inferred such entertainment kept whites away. After all, he surmised, this is the South.
Levenson’s comments came to light during an independent investigation into racially tinged comments made in June 2014 by Ferry about free agent NBA star Luol Deng during a conference call with the Hawks’ ownership group. Ferry eventually agreed to a contractual buyout and the Hawks were purchased by a group led by principal investor Tony Ressler.
And so a nearly year-long Hawks controversy has been put to rest. There will be other challenges ahead, given that the new owners have made clear the team needs either a remodeled, or brand new, home in the near future. Thus, another round of debate over yet another sports stadium is yet to come.
Be that as it may, thanks to this year’s transition, greater Atlanta awaits the 2015-2016 basketball season with anticipation and hope. Which is a good thing for civic pride and identity.
So we join the rest of metro Atlanta in welcoming the new ownership team. We hope their stated commitments lead to a stellar franchise that not only wins but represents Atlanta well, and all that we hold dear — ranking high among these strengths are inclusiveness and diversity.
We’d like to think a new era of Hawks basketball, buoyed by new owners, will unfold. Four out of five starters return, led by a coach who seems up to the task. Player depth was acquired during offseason. And those new “next generation” uniforms (Volt green and Georgia granite gray), well, they did their part to create buzz.
All adds up, it is hoped, to victories. A 60-game season, perhaps? Better yet: How about an NBA title?
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