The 1991–92 NBA season was the Hawks' 43rd season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, and 24th season in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The Hawks received the ninth overall pick in the

1991 NBA draft The 1991–92 NBA season, 1991 NBA draft took place on June 26, 1991, in New York City, New York. Larry Johnson (basketball, born 1969), Larry Johnson was selected first overall; he won the 1992 NBA Rookie of the Year award and as a two-time All ...

, and selected

Stacey Augmon Stacey Orlando Augmon (born August 1, 1968) is an American basketball coach and former player. He serves as the player development coach of the Sacramento Kings. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He gained th ...

from the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

. During the off-season, the team acquired All-Star guard

Maurice Cheeks Maurice Edward Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as head coach of ...

from the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, acquired second-year guard

Travis Mays Travis Cortez Mays (born June 19, 1968) is an American women's basketball coach and former professional player who was the women's head coach for SMU Mustangs women's basketball, Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2016 until 2021. Mays was ...

from the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, and acquired Blair Rasmussen from the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. However, Mays only played just two games due to two ruptured tendons in his right ankle. The Hawks got off to an 8–8 start and played .500 basketball for the first half of the season, holding a 24–23 record at the All-Star break. However, with a 22–20 record as of January 28,

Dominique Wilkins Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is a French-born American former professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins is a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seve ...

ruptured his Achilles tendon and was out for the remainder of the season after playing just 42 games, averaging 28.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Without Wilkins, the Hawks would struggle and lose 24 of their final 40 games, including a 7-game losing streak in March. The Hawks finished fifth in the Central Division with a 38–44 record, missing the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

and losing a tie-breaker for the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

. Wilkins and

Kevin Willis Kevin Alvin Willis (born September 6, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player mostly known for playing with the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a 7-foot power forward/ center. Excluding playe ...

were both selected for the

1992 NBA All-Star Game The 1992 NBA All-Star Game was the 42nd edition of the All-Star Game. It was hosted at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida on February 9, 1992, where the West defeated the East, 153–113. The game is memorable for the return of Los Angeles L ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, but Wilkins did not participate due to injury. Willis averaged 18.3 points and 15.5 rebounds per game, was named to the

All-NBA Third Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

, and finished in third place in Most Improved Player voting. In addition, Augmon averaged 13.3 points and 1.5 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while second-year guard

Rumeal Robinson Rumeal James Robinson (born November 13, 1966) is a Jamaican-American former professional basketball player and convicted felon. Growing up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Robinson graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and went on to pl ...

showed improvement averaging 13.0 points and 5.5 assists per game, and Rasmussen provided the team with 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Off the bench,

Duane Ferrell Duane Ferrell (born February 28, 1965) is an American retired professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors. He played college bas ...

provided with 12.7 points per game, and rookie guard Paul Graham contributed 10.1 points per game. The Hawks finished 25th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 511,803 at the

Omni Coliseum Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey, hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Cente ...

, which was the third-lowest during the season. Following the season, Robinson was traded to the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, and Cheeks was released to free agency after just one season with the Hawks.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot :z - clinched division title :y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Season

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

1st Team

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Season

Awards

Transactions

References

See also