The Atlanta Hawks have long been stuck in the middle — they seem to just exist in the current NBA landscape. Sure, they never finish last, but the last time the team won a championship was 1958. They have been the definition of average — never bad enough to have a chance at potential superstars in the draft, but never good enough to win it all.
Even last year, when we saw the Hawks emerge as possible title contenders for the first time in decades, they never had a realistic shot at the title. Despite the fact that they earned the best record in the Eastern Conference and the second best record in the NBA (behind the Golden State Warriors), they were never thought of as better than the Cleveland Cavaliers. After defeating both the Brooklyn Nets and the Washington Wizards in the first round and semifinals, respectively, the Hawks were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals, proving once again that they stand solidly outside the league’s elite. Even if they had managed to defeat the Cavs, few people, if any, would have given them a shot against a historically strong Warriors team, or any other team in the West’s upper crust for that matter.
To be fair, the Hawks were a very good team last year. They won 60 games, which is no small feat. They had a formidable core of guard Jeff Teague, forward Paul Millsap, center Al Horford and forward Kyle Korver. Under the leadership of Gregg Popovich’s protégé, head coach Mike Budenholzer, hope was on the horizon. However, that hope didn’t help the Hawks make it to the Finals.
Their trip to the conference finals looks even less impressive when you look at their series against the Wizards. The team relied on the heroics of Horford’s offensive rebound and buzzer beater in Game 3 to take the lead. Then, in Game 6, the Hawks received one of the luckiest breaks in NBA history when Wizards’ Paul Pierce’s game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer was deemed too late. The series between the Wizards and the Hawks was one of the closest in last year’s playoffs, with five of the six games won by six or less points and two games decided by buzzer beaters. What makes that all the more damning is the fact that the Wizards were without their superstar and best player, guard John Wall, for Games 2, 3 and 4. This is hardly the play of a team calling itself a contender.
Many NBA fans believe the Hawks overachieved last year during the regular season. Given how much they’ve regressed this year, there might be some truth there. While last year the Hawks won the Eastern Conference by seven games, they are currently fighting it out in the middle of the pack. At this point in time, the Hawks hold the No. 3 seed in the East with a 48-33 record, and they are within two games of the Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat in a heavy logjam between the 3 to 6 seeds in the East. While there’s a decent chance the Hawks can advance past the first round, it’s incredibly doubtful that they will advance past the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors that sit at the top of the conference. Even if they were able to win the East, it would be nothing short of impossible for them to defeat either the San Antonio Spurs or the Golden State Warriors in the finals.
Looking at the past 20 years, this is nothing new for the Hawks. They are an above average Eastern Conference team that consistently makes it to the playoffs but fails to win a championship. While there is value to always making the playoffs, never winning a championship takes its toll as well.
Since the 2008 season, the Hawks have made the playoffs every year. The farthest they’ve advanced before last season, however, was the conference semifinals. In four of those eight seasons, the Hawks lost in the first round. This has happened before: from 1993 to 1999, the Hawks made the playoffs every year yet never reached the conference finals.
Of course, there’s value in being a playoff team almost every year. The Hawks have absolutely no control over what happens in the rest of the league, particularly with superstars coming together to form a “big three” (as was the case with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and the Miami Heat in 2011). When things like that happen, sometimes all you can do is be competitive. Making the playoffs tends to be a signal of being at least an average to above average team, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re great either.
The Hawks have been one of the few teams, most notably the Dallas Mavericks, who have refused to follow the “contender or tank” formula that most of the NBA seem to have bought into. Most teams either maintain a cohesive roster and add solid free agents as championship contenders every year (the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors) or blow up their roster in exchange for future draft picks and young prospects (the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets). Often, these teams are near the bottom of the standings to procure favorable rookies in the draft. Teams in the middle, without many high first round picks and are not championship contenders, have an unpromising present and a horrid future. Namely, both New York franchises (the Nets and the Knicks) are stuck in this middle ground because of poor trades and bad management in general. As has increasingly become clear, it appears the only way to get superstars on your team is to already have one or to draft them. Although Atlanta is in a better situation than some of these franchises, the Hawks can’t seem to escape the middle ground for any serious length of time.
The effect of being such a mediocre team is apparent in its fan base. Since 2001, the Atlanta Hawks have been in the lower half of the NBA in average home attendance. This number is boosted by the two seasons in which they ranked 18th (2009-2019) and 17th (2014-2015). Discounting these exceptions, the Hawks have actually ranked in the lower third of the NBA since 2001. Of course, many other factors play into low attendance, such as the location of the team and the sports culture within the city. But if there’s one thing that championships do, it’s bring fans to the stadium. The Hawks have suffered from a simple reality: they’ve been boring.
With another season of being stuck in the middle almost behind us, we can expect another first round or semifinal exit from the Hawks. While they have been competitive, they’ve never managed to put themselves ahead of the rest of the league. And while there is hope, there is no clear solution on the horizon. They are truly mired in mediocrity.
