As the regular season gets hotter, Franchises are fighting it out to get a playoff entry and to grip onto their likelihood of winning the NBA Trophy. As the franchises battle it out on court a number of the Franchises have a struggle away from the court, with the current market as it is, and the players demands ever increasing some of the Franchises are finding it hard to continue in the existing climate. In this case we will look at the Atlanta Hawks, a franchise with a long history and a huge fan base. Many of the existing Franchises are produce of huge investment when the Franchise For Sale selections were available to potential backers. This is becoming more strange in the existing climate as Franchise For Sale selections are progressively hard to find especially in the sporting market. A lot of backers are holding onto their investments during this period and hoping for a turn in the market. Throughout this period backers will be dealing with their Franchises as a Home Based Franchise, which means that they are reducing their spending and only using the stark minimum. A Home Based Franchise prides itself on not having a large amount of outgoings and therefore developing the Franchises potential of making a profit. The existing Franchises of the sport are taking this approach, as they don’t want a Franchise For Sale sign outside. Throughout a number of the Franchises history there has been major turning moments in ownership and financial restructuring as the Atlanta Hawks account will tell you.
When it comes to the Atlanta Hawks, the franchise isn’t exactly rich with NBA custom. The Atlanta Hawks started as the Tri-City Blackhawks, hailing from the cities of Moline and Rock Island Ill., as well as Davenport, IA., along the Mississippi River. All through the years the franchise had stints in Milwaukee and St. Louis, winning its only club championship in 1958. The Tri-Cities Blackhawks joined the National Basketball League in the 1946-47 season.
In 1968 new owners relocated the franchise to Atlanta. During the off-season of 1972, the Hawks underwent two important alterations. After having shared Alexander Memorial Hall with the Georgia Tech basketball team for five years, the Atlanta Hawks moved into the new 16,500-seat Omni.
On September 3, 1982, the Atlanta Hawks made a move that would shape their identity for the next decade. The Hawks sent John Drew and Freeman Williams to the Utah Jazz for rookie Dominique Wilkins.
The Atlanta Hawks dipped into the free agent market through the 1996 off-season and came away with one of its biggest captures, both literally and figuratively. Dikembe Mutombo, the 7-2 centre from Zaire, instantly transformed Atlanta into one of the finest defensive squads in the NBA. Mutombo, one of eight new Hawks, directed the Hawks to a 56-26 record and a place in the Eastern Conference semi-finals for the third time in four years under Coach Lenny Wilkens. Mutombo finished second in the league in blocked shots (3.3 bpg) and in rebounding (11.6 rpg) on his way to achieving the NBA Defensive Player of the Year reward for the second time in his career.
The new millennium has left the Atlanta Hawks and their followers disappointed to say the least. Late in the 2004 season they found reason to believe in the future though a rush of trades has seemed to free up cap room to draw some big name free agents or draft picks in the off-season.
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