Extremely long sigh.
Hawks fans just can’t have nice things. And that maxim has been truer for even longer than you know.
At one point this season, the Hawks were riding high off a second thrilling win in Boston this season to move to 22-19. Those good vibes have evaporated after a seven-game losing streak that saw the team’s second-best and maybe most irreplaceable player sidelined for the rest of the season on a freak injury play.
This episode is just the latest in a long line of misfortunes, blunders, and outright disastrous events — some self-inflicted, some not — that have plagued this franchise going back many, many decades.
A Trip Down Ugly Memory Lane
- The first big misstep leads back to arrival of the first true superstar into the budding NBA. The legendary Bill Russell was actually drafted by the St. Louis Hawks back in 1956, but a draft day trade for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan — possibly due to the city’s racial strife at the time for a black athlete — meant the future 11-time champion would instead suit up for the Celtics his whole playing career.
- 1975 brought a whole new crop of draft misfortunes. Believe it or not, the Hawks actually owned not only the number one overall pick like they did this past draft but also the third overall pick in the 1975 NBA Draft. David Thompson was the selection at the top — who promptly signed with the ABA Denver Nuggets after being traded from the Virginia Squires.
Not to worry, however! The team could fall back on third overall pick Marvin Webster, right? Wrong. He also chose the Nuggets over the Hawks that same offseason. Two top-three picks, poof. Vanished.
- I detailed a long list of draft lottery-related bad luck this past offseason prior to the Hawks unexpectedly winning the number one pick with just 3-percent odds (in what the majority of draftniks considered the weakest crop in at least a decade). I don’t wish to rehash the pain, but you’re free to do so.
- The team traded away franchise legend and fan favorite Dominique Wilkins during the 1993-94 seasons for reasons that are still unclear…despite them headed for an Eastern Conference-leading 57-25 record.
- In the midst of what would be their best regular season ever (60-22) — and best postseason to that point since moving to Atlanta in 1968 — glue guy Thabo Sefolosha had his leg broken at the hands of the NYPD outside of a New York club one fateful April 2015 morning just weeks before the postseason. He was also arrested, along with backup center Pero Antic, and forced into a perp walk on said broken tibia.
I’m not saying that two straight series sweeps at the hands of LeBron and friends were the direct cause of the NYPD, but I’m also not NOT saying that.
- 2021-22 was the Covid replacement brigade season.
- 2022-23 saw the head coach reportedly offer to step down and have his offer rebuffed before months later departing the organization.
- 2023-24 was another injury-ravaged season, including a season-ending ankle injury for Jalen Johnson.
I skipped over so many other tales in Hawks lore, but there’s really no need to list them ad nauseum. Trust me: this is the most cursed franchise in the NBA.
They may not be the losingest (although no titles since 1958 might beg to differ) or the worst run between ownership and the front office (although at times close!), but for the amount of time the Hawks have existed as a franchise, there’s really no doubt.
That brings us to this season.
The Hawks exited the Dejounte Murray era about as gracefully as could be expected, picking up Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and two first-round picks (including the possibly lottery Lakers pick this year). They won the aforementioned first pick last draft and thus rebuilt their defensive perimeter in one fell swoop.
Finally, the days of porous perimeter defenses were over. And after Jalen Johnson’s breakout year last season, he could surely elevate to the number two role on offense this year.
It all seemed to go according to plan.
Johnson could both operate as a roll big man, finishing at the rim off of lob passes from Trae Young. And his on-ball growth meant that he could trigger the offense when Trae sat and keep things afloat.
Johnson has been an absolute joy to watch blossom into a high-impact player.
He has oh so been productive stepping into this larger role, so much so that he was getting calls to be named to his first career All-Star game with his across-the-board numbers.
Sadly, now that dream will have to wait for another season.
He joins Kobe Bufkin — another player with aspirations of stepping into a bigger role — on the shelf with the season-ending injury. Every team deals with health issues, but this will be the fourth straight campaign where the momentum to climb the standings has come to a complete standstill.
And the Hawks can’t even pivot towards the lottery this offseason — not with their first-round pick in the possession of San Antonio due to the original Dejounte Murray trade. They’ll just need to find a way to stay hungry and compete down a key part of their team.
Who knows what path they take at next Thursday’s trade deadline. Could the older veteran players like Clint Capela, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Larry Nance Jr. be out the door? Do they hold onto them and try to make the most of the situation?
I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know it’s hard to keep faith when at every turn there’s an unfortunate setback. This week has been one long sigh in Hawks fandom, and I can only hope they soon give me a reason to hope again.