The Atlanta Hawks Are Already Winners

Today feels different in Atlanta. In nine and a half hours time, our Atlanta Hawks will host the Cleveland Cavaliers for Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals at the Highlight Factory.  Eventually reality will set in.  We’re not dreaming, Atlanta.  Our Hawks are a championship contender.

Before this series begins, I’d like to reflect on just how magical this season has been for our Atlanta Hawks.  I knew this team was going improve from last year in Coach Mike Budenholzer’s second season.  If healthy, this team was certainly capable of finishing above .500, winning 45-50 games with a chance at a Southeast Division Crown.  If the matchups were favorable, maybe a chance at an ECF appearance.  The 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks shattered this ceiling with a franchise record 60 wins and its first Eastern Finals berth since realignment.

Atlanta has long been a sports town, it just has had its attention spread out between three professional teams and dozens of colleges.  The Olympics have been here, Super Bowls, Final Fours, All-Star Games, SEC Championships, they have all been held in Atlanta since the mid-90’s.  We have received national criticism for a lack of passion with our teams.  There might be some truth to that only because it’s a different kind of passion than from what they’ve come to expect.  Atlanta is normally reluctant to go all in on a team, only because the city has been burned so many times before.  But when the city completely embraces a team, there’s nothing like it.  Like the 1991 Braves and 1998 Falcons, the 2015 Atlanta Hawks have won the city over.

This will be a tough series for both Cleveland and Atlanta.  Most experts are picking this series to go six or seven games.  All the pressure is on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers as northern Ohio is dying to see their 51-year title drought expire.  Atlanta is looking for its second championship in any sport.  The only time Atlanta won a title was over Cleveland in the 1995 World Series.  LeBron James is asked to carry the Cavs to the Promised Land upon his return to Akron.

The Atlanta Hawks have home court advantage over Cleveland.  Yes, the team will have to overthrow the King to play for an NBA title.  That sets up a very intriguing storyline: the peasants revolt and take down the King.  But who’s to say that the Atlanta Hawks haven’t already won this year?

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By getting to a Conference Finals, it makes several things possible for the Atlanta Hawks.  Atlanta will be scheduled for more nationally televised games in 2015-16.  Coach Bud has the respect of his colleagues and potential free agents, meaning top talent might actually now consider playing for the Hawks.  But more important than anything, the City of Atlanta is now fully behind the Hawks.  Our team isn’t an afterthought any more.  A new generation of basketball fans are now solely Atlanta Hawks fans.

When Steve Koonin took over as CEO this past summer, he had a tough task of rallying the city behind its basketball team.  The ITP/OTP cultures have long fragmented the Greater Atlanta Area.  It’s happened before and it’s happening now, one sports team can unify an entire region.  Atlanta loves its Hawks.  And more importantly Atlanta is capable of great things when unified.  It’s been a rough last couple of years for our teams.  But even if the Hawks come up short of an NBA Championship, they’ve already done the impossible.  The 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks have won over Atlanta.