1993–94 Atlanta Hawks season
Season of National Basketball Association team the Atlanta Hawks / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 1993–94 NBA season was the Hawks' 45th season in the National Basketball Association, and 26th season in Atlanta.[1] In the off-season, Chicago Bulls All-Star guard Michael Jordan shocked the NBA by announcing his retirement.[2][3][4][5][6] This meant that various teams in the league had an opportunity to contend for a championship. The Hawks hired Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens as their new head coach. Wilkens was a star guard for the franchise when it was based in St. Louis in the 1960s. He was quickly moving up the all-time coaching wins list after successful runs with the Seattle SuperSonics and Cleveland Cavaliers. Wilkens employed a defensive system which benefited several members of the team.[7][8][9] The team also signed free agents Craig Ehlo,[10][11][12] and Andrew Lang during the off-season.[13][14]
1993–94 Atlanta Hawks season | |||
---|---|---|---|
Division champions | |||
Head coach | Lenny Wilkens | ||
General manager | Pete Babcock | ||
Owners | Ted Turner / Turner Broadcasting System | ||
Arena | The Omni | ||
Results | |||
Record | 57–25 (.695) | ||
Place | Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 1st (Eastern) | ||
Playoff finish | Conference semifinals (lost to Pacers 2–4) | ||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||
Local media | |||
Television | SportSouth TBS | ||
Radio | WGST | ||
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The Hawks got off to a slow start losing four of their first five games, but then went on a 14-game winning streak between November and December, which led to a 15–4 start,[15] as they held a 34–13 record at the All-Star break.[16] Despite being in first place in the East, the Hawks would trade All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for All-Star forward Danny Manning on February 24.[17][18][19][20][21] By the end of the season, the Hawks finished first overall in the Eastern Conference with a record of 57 wins and 25 losses.[22]
Kevin Willis led the team with 19.1 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, while Mookie Blaylock averaged 13.8 points, 9.7 assists and 2.6 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Stacey Augmon provided the team with 14.8 points and 1.8 steals per game, while Ehlo contributed 10.0 points and 1.7 steals per game off the bench as the team's sixth man, and Jon Koncak led the team with 1.5 blocks per game.[23] Wilkins and Blaylock were both selected for the 1994 NBA All-Star Game, with Lenny Wilkens coaching the Eastern Conference.[24][25][26][27][28][29] Wilkens was also named Coach of the Year,[30][31] and Ehlo finished in third place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.[32]
In the playoffs, the Hawks trailed 2–1 to the 8th-seeded Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference First Round,[33][34][35] but won the series in five games.[36][37][38][39] However, they lost to the 5th-seeded Indiana Pacers four games to two in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.[40][41][42][43] Following the season, Manning signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns,[44][45][46][47] while Duane Ferrell signed with the Indiana Pacers,[48] and second-year forward Adam Keefe was traded to the Utah Jazz.[49][50]