No injuries after car collides with Hawks' bus

Hawks' bus in accident

A car lurched out of control and collided with the Hawks’ team bus in downtown Milwaukee on Monday, causing no injuries but surprising everyone.

The accident occurred as the team was leaving the Bradley Center following its shoot-around at the arena well before the Hawks and Bucks played Game 4 of their best-of-seven playoff series.

A white Cadillac with a child aboard lost control and hit the left side of the bus. Photos from the scene showed major damage to the car and significant damage to the luggage compartment on the bus.

"It wasn't as bad as it could have been," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "She [the driver] was lucky, I think."

The Hawks’ bus had just pulled away from the rear of the Bradley Center when the accident occurred. The bus was waiting at a stop sign when the car slammed into it at a high rate of speed, according to Hawks personnel.

Airbags deployed on the Cadillac, which had a young boy in the rear seat.

“I jumped out and went over to the car and I opened the door and the little kid had climbed out of the car seat,” Woodson said. “There was smoke coming from the airbag so I grabbed the kid and they got her out.”

Hawks players took taxi cabs back to the team hotel while some members of the traveling party chose to walk.

"It was like a movie; you could see something coming but you just knew it was going to turn, but it didn't," Hawks guard Jamal Crawford said. "We felt the impact and everybody kind of was caught off guard."

Stackhouse on other side

There was a time when the Hawks players who worked out alongside Jerry Stackhouse last summer thought he would end up as their teammate. Stackhouse believed it might happen, too.

Instead, Stackhouse ended up signing a free-agent contract with the Bucks in January.

“I definitely wanted to hook on with the Hawks,” Stackhouse said. “It just didn’t work out. I don’t know what happened on their end. I just kind of was waiting around and hoping. When this opportunity came, I couldn’t pass it up because I was anxious to play.”

Stackhouse, 35, has a home in the Atlanta area and has been friendly for years with Hawks forward Josh Smith. He became acquainted with Hawks players Jeff Teague and Al Horford during workouts with Smith.

Woodson thankful to Bucks

Woodson's first NBA coaching job was an as assistant for the Bucks under then-coach Chris Ford from 1996-99. He said he's grateful to Bucks owner Sen. Herb Kohl for the chance.