Despite an calm outward demeanor, Tony Ressler is more impatient and competitive than he lets on publicly.
And he wants to bring a championship to Atlanta.
So if the Hawks principle owner can buy the team and then break ground on a sorely needed, state-of-the-art practice facility in just one year, who is to argue with his ultimate goal for the NBA franchise?
“Yes, we have an objective to be a great franchise,” Ressler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is an exclusive interview. “A great franchise has to win a championship. When I use the term, I think it’s healthier to say we want to be a great franchise than say I want a championship. You can’t be a great franchise without being a champ. So, we have to be a champ at some point.
“Listen, it’s been a long time for Atlanta and I guess I can say never in the world of the NBA. We have an objective. It’s not easy to do. There are 29 other teams trying to do it. But I can tell you this: Under the category of investing in the team, investing in our players and investing in our coaching staff, I don’t think you are going to see us cut corners. You are going to see us try to be smart in what we do but I don’t think we’ll ever have to apologize for how we want to run this franchise.”
Ressler and his ownership group closed on their purchase of the Hawks and Philips Arena on June 24, 2015. One year later to the day, the team made the large investment for a new $50 million practice facility in partnership with Emory Healthcare. The complex was ownership’s first priority, one they considered a necessity to compete in the NBA.
Ressler recalled a dinner with Hawks star Al Horford, when he told the center in their very first meeting that an announcement on a new practice facility would be made in less than 12 months.
“He looked at me like I was exaggerating,” Ressler recalled. “I wasn’t.”
Ressler said the next priority for the franchise is the planned and partially begun remodeling of Philips Arena and its surrounding area. He has said it before and will say it again. There is a three-prong path for success: practice facility, arena and downtown, including the Gulch bordering on Philips.
“We don’t think of those as luxuries,” Ressler said. “Please hear me. I think of those as requirements for this franchise to be great. I really believe that. Again, I think Atlantans are extraordinary but I think you must be immune. I’m still stunned by what the Gulch is in the middle of one of the greatest cities in the world.
“I go to a lot of cities. We invest in a lot of cities and Atlanta is amazing. The most central location in all of the metropolitan area is a monster hole the last time I checked. Hopefully, that can be addressed and I think a lot of folks agree with me.”
Ressler said he spent much of his first year observing the entire operation. He admits that the endeavor of owning a professional sports franchise was much more complicated that he first imagined. Call him foolish or naïve and you’d be right.
It’s a modest-sized business to a billionaire who co-founded two private equity firms. Still, there is a lengthy list of concerns, including players, basketball operations, vending good food and beverage, ensuring efficient parking, sponsorships, arena management and any number of non-basketball events held at Philips.
Ressler said he has full trust in those in charge of different aspects of the organization. He said his group bet on the success of people such as president of basketball operations and head coach Mike Budenholzer, general manager Wes Wilcox, CEO Steve Koonin, and executive vice presidents Thad Sheely, Andrew Saltzman and Scott Wilkinson. He said so far, that bet has paid off.
Now, Ressler said he will become even more involved.
“As I think the people inside the Hawks know, I’ve gotten somewhat more aggressive in how our organization could run better,” Ressler said. “I think it can and I think we have a really long road ahead to improve.”
One of the driving forces to improve the organization is the pursuit of that championship. Ressler said the latest playoff series loss — the second straight season his Hawks have been swept by the Cavaliers — stung. “Unbelievably” was the adjective he used. While he realizes the players and coaches take defeats worse than he does, it’s a sign that change is in order. You cannot remain the same and continue to be run over by a freight train driven by LeBron James.
“We lost four in a row and we lost to a better team so we have to figure out how to reposition our team,” Ressler said. “I think Bud and Wes are doing just that. How do we play differently? Maybe there are going to be a few different players. But our job is to get better. I’m not sure if it happens overnight.
“But if the question is, are we comfortable losing four in a row two years in row? No. One thing I have learned is as much as I hate to lose, our coaching staff and our players hate it much more than I do. That’s what makes them professionals.”
Ressler has not always been patient in his quest to make the necessary improvements for the organization that he and his family have quickly come to love. Work remaining to be done includes putting together a roster capable of competing for a championship. However, it must be done the right and smart way. He cautioned that other franchises that have shown too much impatience and their subsequent moves proved painful for years.
“I’ve been told that before,” Ressler said of his impatience. “As my wife would tell you, it’s both very bad and very good and it depends on the day.”
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