Catching a new vibe
Wednesday was not the first time that Chris Peterson attended a Hawks game, but it sure felt different to him than all others.
Peterson, 37, is a life-long Atlantan and has been an occasional Hawks fans from way back when, including his time as a basketball player for Paulding County High.
There has been a much different vibe in Philips this season, however, especially late in the season. He was in Philips Arena when the Hawks beat Golden State 124-116 on Feb. 6 and when Al Horford beat the buzzer to hold off the Wizards in Game 5 of the second round of the playoffs.
Peterson and Jen Barrett, 35, arrived early to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cavaliers, and hunkered down in their south end zone seats.
“This year has been different than anything I’ve seen,” Peterson said. “You can tell that the entire city has been waiting on this, that we’ve been waiting for a team that plays together with no egos. (The Hawks) do a great job with the production of this event, but I think this city has just been waiting for something else to wrap their love around.
“The Braves? We lost that, and I think we’ve just been waiting. The Falcons? We keep getting teased a little bit.”
Barrett said, “I remember this place being half-empty and there wasn’t any energy. This is changed. It’s the crowd, the energy …”
Peterson bought a partial season ticket, yet said, “I was at the Golden State game, and I was at Game 5 of the Washington series and both those games I came solo; they weren’t part of my package. I’d never gone to a sporting event solo.”
At home for grandchild
One of the benefits of the Hawks being in the Eastern Conference finals: TNT studio host Ernie Johnson Jr., gets to see his first granddaughter without catching a flight.
Katie Ann Pruitt was born to Johnson’s daughter, Maggie, on Wednesday at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. Johnson has been an Atlantan since 1966, when his broadcaster dad Ernie Sr. moved here from Milwaukee with the Braves.
Tribute to Sager
No one to ever grace an NBA sideline has looked as dapper as TNT reporter Craig Sager.
Sager, who battled leukemia last year, is undergoing another round of chemotherapy treatments since he announced in March the cancer had returned. He took a break from treatments to attend Sunday’s Game 7 between the Clippers and Rockets as a spectator.
But the NBA wanted to give Sager a hometown salute and asked that everyone at Philips Arena for Wednesday night’s opening game of the Eastern Conference finals between the Hawks and Cavaliers show their support for #SagerStrong and dress like Sager.
Money man
Eleven-time world boxing champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr., sat courtside and drew a substantial reaction when he was introduced near the start of the second quarter over the P.A. system with a video accompaniment on the video board.
Mayweather, who defended his welterweight titles May 2 with a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao, drew some applause but a greater percentage of the noise sent up by fans appeared to be booing and catcalls.
Front-line help?
If the Hawks were to go looking for help in the post, they could’ve tabbed the guest of minority owner Ed Peskowitz and come up with a soon-to-be Hall of Famer.
Peskowitz passed through the media working area about a half hour before tip-off with guest Spencer Haywood, who was miffed when he saw soccer on TV.
Haywood was a member of the U.S. Olympic Gold medal team in 1968, and played from 1970-83 in the ABA and NBA, with one year spent in Italy.
The 6-foot-8 forward played one season at the University of Detroit, averaging 32.1 points and 21.5 rebounds, was MVP of the ABA as a rookie in ’70 (when the NBA would not allow players whose college classes had not yet graduated) with the Denver Rockets (averaging 30 points and 19.5 rebounds), and played in the NBA with the Sonics, Knicks, Jazz, Lakers, and Bullets.
Haywood was quite well-rounded as a player, putting up 17,111 points, 8,675 rebounds and 1,541 assists in the NBA.
He will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.
Getting familiar
Billionaire financier Antony Ressler, whose purchase of the Hawks is expected to be approved in a few weeks, was at Philips Arena with his wife, actress Jami Gertz. Minority owner-to-be Grant Hill also was in the house.
In the red
The Hawks draped a red, “True to Atlanta,” T-shirt over every seat in Philips Arena before the building opened at 6:30 p.m., and the vast majority of fans wore them during the game.
Easy entry
Thanks at least in part to the late start (8:30 p.m.), getting to the Hawks game was a bit easier than usual. With the extra hour or so, most rush-hour traffic had subsided and Braves traffic was also out of the way about an hour before the Hawks and Cavs tipped off.
He said it
“The stars are coming out. They really are filming lots of movies in Atlanta. Jon (Mad Men) Hamm, Zach Galifianakis, every NFL player who lives in town — it’s unbelievable, and unfortunately I think they all have my phone number.” — Hawks CEO Steve Koonin
About the Author
