The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at State Farm Arena.
The team's origins can be traced to the establishment of the Buffalo Bisons in 1946 in Buffalo, New York, a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) owned by Ben Kerner and Leo Ferris. After 38 days in Buffalo, the team moved to Moline, Illinois, where they were renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. In 1949, they joined the NBA as part of the merger between the NBL and the Basketball Association of America (BAA), and briefly had Red Auerbach as coach. In 1951, Kerner moved the team to Milwaukee, where they changed their name to the Hawks. Kerner and the team moved again in 1955 to St. Louis, where they won their only NBA Championship in 1958 and qualified to play in the NBA Finals in 1957, 1960 and 1961. The Hawks played the Boston Celtics in all four of their trips to the NBA Finals. The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968, when Kerner sold the franchise to Thomas Cousins and former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders.
Ben Kerner (D. 2000) was the co-founder and owner of the St. Louis Hawks; the present-day Atlanta Hawks. In 1946 along with business partner, Leo Ferris, Kerner founded a professional team in Buffalo, New York, which became the Moline, Illinois-based Tri-Cities Blackhawks after a few games. Kerner moved the team to Milwaukee in 1951 and to St. Louis in 1955. His 1958 St. Louis Hawks won the NBA Championship.
During the 1946-47 season, Ferris and Kerner added Pop Gates to the Buffalo-Tri-Cities team. Gates finished second on the team in scoring, behind 1948 NBL MVP Don Otten. A Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame player, Gates was a factor in integrating the league and the first African-American coach in a major league when he coached Dayton in 1948.
Kerner hired Naismith Hall of Fame coach Red Auerbach for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, located in Moline, Illinois in 1949. When he discovered that Kerner had traded a player without consulting him, Auerbach left the Blackhawks to coach the Boston Celtics for the 1950-51 season and won a record nine NBA championships with the Celtics.
In 1950, Kerner drafted Naismith Hall of Fame player Bob Cousy in the first round (number four) and sold him to the Chicago Stags. Cousy, reportedly unhappy to go to a small-town area, wanted $10,000 to sign with the Blackhawks and Kerner countered with $6,000 before selling him to the Stags. Cousy played for Auerbach in Boston when the Stags were sold, and played in 13 consecutive All-Star games.
Kerner drafted Hall of Fame player Bob Pettit in the first round (number two) in 1954. Pettit, who averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds per game over his career, was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player in 1956 and 1959. At 6 feet 9 inches (206 cm), Pettit was a ten-time first-team All-NBA member and retired as the all-time leading NBA scorer. His 16.2 per-game rebound average is third in league history, behind Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
In 1956, Kerner drafted Hall of Fame player Bill Russell as the second pick in the first round and traded him to the Boston Celtics for Cliff Hagan and former St. Louis University star Ed Macauley. Russell replaced Auerbach as coach of the Celtics, winning two titles as player-coach.
From 1953-54 to 1956-57, the Hawks were coached by Hall of Fame coach Red Holzman. Holzman was replaced in 1956-57 by Hall of Fame coach Alex Hannum. Holzman later won two NBA championships with the New York Knicks, and Hannum led the Hawks to the NBA championship before he was fired after the title season.
In 1960, Kerner drafted Hall of Fame player and coach Lenny Wilkens as the sixth pick of the first round. After retiring as a player, Wilkens coached for 32 NBA seasons and won over 1,300 games
After the 1967-68 season, Kerner sold the St. Louis Hawks to Thomas Cousins and former Georgia governor Carl Sanders. The new owners moved the team to Atlanta, where they remain as the Atlanta Hawks. He is a strong candidate for inclusion in the Basketball HOF. His autograph is rarely offered.
Lewis Woodruff – was friends with new Atlanta Hawks owner, Tom Cousins. He was also a long time assistant coach at Georgia Tech.
J. Walter Kennedy (D 1977) was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1963 until 1975. He is sometimes mistakenly referred to as Walter J. Kennedy. He is a member of the Naismith Basketball HOF.
Offered is a super historic offering of a Group lot of eight NBA player contracts relating to the St. Louis Hawks and their move to Atlanta in 1968, each one page, 8.5 x 11, May 10, 1968. Each document is a “Uniform Agreement for Assignment of a Player’s Contract to or by Club,” between the St. Louis Hawks Basketball Club, Inc., and Atlanta Hawks Basketball, Inc., for the following players: Lenny Wilkens, Skip Harlicka, Zelmo Beaty, Jim Davis, Bill Bridges, Joe Caldwell, Lou Hudson, and Paul Silas. Each contract is signed at the conclusion by NBA commissioner J. Walter Kennedy, and countersigned Lewis Woodruff representing the Atlanta owners and Ben Kerner (the original owner of the Hawks) and two witnesses. In overall fine condition.
These players were the basis for the starting players of the original Atlanta Hawks.
This is a treasure trove of Atlanta and NBA history with two Hall of Famer documents to boot (Lenny Wilkens and Zelmo Beaty).