The Story of the Atlanta Hawks

The Story of the Atlanta Hawks — page 3 — IIIIIIAR BECOMING AIRBORNE iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii HTHE CITY OF ATLANTA GEORGIA HAS GAINED A NATIONAL REPUTATION FOR COMMERCE I ER is a drags A III EE IIIIIIII al

The Story of the Atlanta Hawks — page 4 — CLIFF HAGAN tlanta Georgia has gone by many names throughout its history as it rose to become one of the most important cities in the United States The original Creek Indian inhabitants called it Standing Pitch Tree In the early 1800s the Creeks were forced out to make way for white settlers In the mid 1830s planners for the fledgling Georgia Railroad drove a milepost into what would become a major Atlanta intersection A small settlement named Terminus grew up around that milepost Soon it became Thrasherville after local merchant John Thrasher In 1842 the residents wanted to honor governor Wilson Lumpkin and considered naming the town Lumpkinville for him Instead Lumpkin suggested it take his daughter's name so it became Marthasville Three years later the railroad wanted to change course once again with the more

The Story of the Atlanta Hawks — page 5 — ATLANTA GUARD PETE MARAVICH PLAYED HIS FIRST PROFESSIONAL GAME IN ATLANTA IN 1970 he incorporated the neighboring cities of Rock Island Illinois and Davenport Iowa so he could impressive sounding Atlantica Pacifica This moniker was quickly shortened to Atlanta Such changes in identity have also affected the city's professional basketball team the Hawks from its founding in the 1930s as the Buffalo New York Bisons to its resettlement in Atlanta four decades later Formed in 1935 as part of the Midwest Basketball Conference the Bisons joined the new National Basketball League NBL in 1937 and went just 3 6 that season The team suspended operations until the 1946 47 season when after playing 13 games owner Ben Kerner moved the team to Moline Illinois To broaden the team's appeal call the team the Tri Cities Blackhawks The nickname honored the Sauk Indian chief Black Hawk who led an unsuccessful war against the U S Army and territorial militias in 1832 The team showed steady improvement going 19 25 in 1946 47 30 30 in 1947 48 and 36 28 in 1948 49 That season it advanced to the championship semifinals The team's star was 6 foot 10 center Don Otten named the league's most valuable player In 1949 the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America BAA to become the 10

The Story of the Atlanta Hawks — page 6 — FLIN COURTSIDE STORIES ON A LEGEND LOSING OUT In the 1950 NBA Draft the Boston Celtics passed over local hero Bob Cousy a three time All American guard at nearby Holy Cross and the Tri Cities Blackhawks happily took him In those days player salaries were a tiny fraction of what they are now Cousy wanted to supplement his basketball income by starting a driving school in the Boston metropolitan area He felt that the Tri Cities region was too sparsely populated to support a successful venture so he demanded a 10 000 salary instead Blackhawks owner Ben Kerner countered with 6 500 I turned it down cold because I knew I could do much better running the driving school back in Worcester Massachusetts Cousy said The Blackhawks then traded his rights to the Chicago Stags The Stags folded before the season began Cousy's name went into a hat the Celtics drew it and they offered enough money to persuade him to don Celtics green Cousy then became one of the greatest guards in NBA history causing today's Hawks fans to wonder how high their team might have flown if Kerner hadn't lowballed him in the first place 11

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