How to watch Atlanta Hawks on TV?

ATLANTA HAWKS

The Atlanta Hawks have a long and interesting history. The franchise was founded as the Buffalo Bisons in 1946 as a member of the National Basketball League (NBL). The team never played a game in Buffalo and moved to Illinois to become the Tri-Cities Blackhawks.

In 1949, the NBL merged with the BAA to form the NBA. Two years later, the franchise moved to Milwaukee where it became just the Hawks. In 1955, another move was made to St. Louis with the nickname “Hawks” retained. Finally, in 1968 the franchise was moved to its current home of Atlanta.

Nationally broadcast Hawks’ games can be watched on TV on ESPN, ESPN+, ABC, and TNT. FOX Sports Southeast is the regional broadcaster of Hawks’ games. The complete Atlanta Hawks schedule is available via live streaming on the FOX Sports GO app or at NBA.tv.

HOME OF THE HAWKS

With all of the moves, the Hawks have played in several different arenas. In 1999, Atlanta moved into what was then known as Phillips Arena. Today it is called the State Farm Arena. The arena is laid out in what was then an unusual format with luxury boxes and club seats on one side and general admission seating on the other three. Newer arenas have followed that configuration. State Farm Arena seats 20,233 for Hawks’ home games.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

The Hawks have had several periods of great success beginning with the St. Louis teams of the late 1950s and early 1960s. While in St. Louis, the Hawks won five division titles. After the move to Atlanta, the Hawks won six more for a total of 11. The Hawks have made the NBA playoffs 46 times in franchise history.

The Hawks have won four conference titles, all while in St. Louis (1957, 1958, 1960, and 1961). The only NBA title in Hawks’ history came in 1958 when St. Louis beat Boston 4-2.

BEST OF THE HAWKS

The early success of the Hawks – in the ‘50s and ‘60s – can be attributed to the play of one of the franchise’s greats Bob Pettit. An 11-time NBA All-Star, Pettit played his entire career with the Hawks franchise. He was the second overall draft pick in 1954 of the Milwaukee Hawks. Pettit would win the NBA’s very first league MVP award in 1956. He won it once more in 1959. He was the MVP of the NBA All-Star Game four times. Pettit was the Rookie of the Year in 1955, a two-time scoring champion, and was named to the All-NBA First Team in ten straight seasons between 1955 and 1964. Pettit is second in franchise history in scoring (30,690) and first in rebounding (12,849). He finished his Hall of Fame career with averages of 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds per game.

The one player with more points than Pettit in Hawks history is another Hall of Famer – Dominique Wilkins. He was the third overall pick in the 1982 draft and spent the first 13 seasons of his career in Atlanta. Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star and made the All-NBA First, Second, or Third Team seven times. Twice, Wilkins won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He scored 23,292 of his career 26,668 points in Atlanta. He finished his career with averages of 24.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.