1996–97 Atlanta Hawks Season
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1996–97 Atlanta Hawks Season
The 1996–97 NBA season was the 48th season for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association, and their 29th season in Atlanta, Georgia. During this season, Hawks owner Ted Turner was the then-vice chairman of Time Warner after acquiring Turner Broadcasting System. In an effort to improve their team, the Hawks strengthened their defense by signing free agent All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo. During the off-season, the team signed free agents Tyrone Corbin and Willie Burton; Corbin previously played for the Hawks during the 1994–95 season. The team also signed Eldridge Recasner, and former Georgia Tech University guard Jon Barry. The Hawks struggled with a 5–6 start to the regular season, but soon played above .500 basketball as the team signed three-point specialist Henry James in December, and later on released Burton to free agency in January after playing 24 games. The Hawks posted a 14–2 record in January, which included a ten-game winning streak, then later ...
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Lenny Wilkens
Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, 1992 United States Olympic "Dream Team" for which he was an assistant coach. In 1996, Wilkens was named to the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, NBA 50th Anniversary Team, and in 2021 he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In addition, in 2022 he was also named to the list of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History, being the only person to be in both NBA 75th season celebration lists, as a player and as a coach. He is also a 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Wilkens made a combined 13-time NBA All-Star Game appearances as a player (nine times) and as a head coach (four times), was the 199 ...
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Willie Burton
Willie Ricardo Burton (born May 26, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Miami Heat in the first round (ninth overall pick) in the 1990 NBA draft from the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Burton played for numerous NBA teams from 1990 to 1999. He also played in Europe for several seasons. He was born in Detroit where he attended high school at Saint Martin De Porres. Willie has three children with Carla Burton. High school career Burton attended high school at Saint Martin De Porres. The school won the Michigan Class C state championship in 1985 and 1986. Burton was inducted into the Detroit Catholic High School Hall of Fame in 1990. College career The University of Minnesota reached the Sweet Sixteen during Burton's junior year (1989) and the Elite Eight during his senior season (1990).http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=39209&SPID=3302&DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=274536 Burton finished his college career as the Golden Gophe ...
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Alan Henderson (basketball)
Alan Lybrooks Henderson (born December 2, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He stands tall. Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, Henderson attended Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, Indiana. They lost the state championship game his senior year to Glenn Robinson's Gary Roosevelt squad. In 1994, he was a part of the US men's basketball team for the Goodwill Games. College career While at Indiana University, Henderson led the team in rebounding all four years. Currently, he is the only Indiana University player to rank in the school's top five in rebounding, blocked shots and steals. He is ninth in scoring and appeared in the Final Four in 1992. His 23.5 points per game scoring average for the 1995 season is the highest single season scoring average for any Indiana player during Bob Knight's 29-year tenure. Henderson was accepted into medical school at Indiana University and Howard University ...
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Mookie Blaylock
Daron Oshay "Mookie" Blaylock (born March 20, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He spent 13 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and the Golden State Warriors. College career A push-and-pass point guard, Blaylock was rated among the best defensive stoppers in the game. The former Garland High School, Midland College (where he earned NJCAA All American honors in 1987), and University of Oklahoma star is most highly regarded for his quick hands and a ball hawking defensive style that produced more than 200 steals in a season five times and two NBA All-Defensive first-team selections. He was also a capable outside shooter, a fine passer who generally ranked among the league's assist leaders, and a durable instigator of the fast break. In 1988, he helped to lead the Sooners to the NCAA title game. Professional career Blaylock was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the 12th overall pick of the ...
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Christian Laettner
Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history. He was the star player on the back-to-back Duke List of NCAA Men's Division I Basketball champions, National Championship teams of 1990–91 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1991 and 1991–92 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1992, and the List of U.S. men's college basketball national player of the year awards, NCAA player of the year in his senior year.Christian Laettner
at the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
He is particularly f ...
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Steve Smith (basketball)
Steven Delano Smith (born March 31, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who is a basketball analyst for Turner Sports. After a collegiate career with Michigan State, he played with several teams in his 14-season National Basketball Association career, including the Miami Heat, the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs, but is perhaps best known for his five-year stint with the Atlanta Hawks which included an All-Star Game appearance in 1998. He won a championship with the Spurs in 2003. Smith was widely regarded as an excellent three-point shooter, and is one of three players to make seven 3-pointers in a quarter. He joined the USA men's national basketball team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship winning the gold medal. He won another gold medal at the 1999 Tournament of the Americas and an Olympic gold medal with the USA men's national basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics with eleven other NBA All-Stars. College career Smith finis ...
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NBA All-Defensive Team
The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two five-man lineups, a first and a second team. Voting is conducted by a panel of 123 writers and broadcasters. Prior to the 2013–14 NBA season, voting was performed by the NBA head coaches, who were restricted from voting for players on their own team. The players each receive two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote. The top five players with the highest point total make the first team, with the next five making the second team. In the case of a tie at the fifth position of either team, the roster is expanded. If the first team consists of six players due to a tie, the second team will still consist of five players with the potential for more expansion in the event of additional ties. Ties have occurre ...
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NBA Defensive Player Of The Year
The NBA Defensive Player of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points, second-place votes are worth three points, and a third-place vote is worth one. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. Since the 2022–23 NBA season, winners receive the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy, named after the two-time defensive player of the year winner. Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Rudy Gobert have each won the award a record four times. Dwight Howard has won the award three times, and is the only player ever to have won it in three consecutive seasons. Sidney Moncrief, Mark Eaton, Dennis Rodman, Ha ...
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NBA Playoffs
The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held after the league's regular season and its preliminary postseason tournament, the NBA play-in tournament. Six teams from each of the two conferences automatically advance to the playoffs based on regular season winning percentage. As of 2021, those teams finishing seven through 10 from each conference compete in the play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff Seed (sports), seeds. The playoffs culminate with the NBA Finals, where both conference champions from the NBA conference finals play each other. Format The top six teams in both the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, ranked by winning percentage, directly advance to the playoffs. Teams ranked seventh through tenth comp ...
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Eastern Conference (NBA)
The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association (NBA), the other being the Western Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three divisions. The Eastern Conference comprises the Atlantic, Central, and Southeast Divisions. The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the now Charlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the New Orleans Pelicans from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly created Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The NBA first started awarding an Eastern Conference championship trophy during the 2000–01 season, renaming it after Hall of Famer Bob Cousy in the 2021–22 season. Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Larry Bird Trophy to the Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player, named after Hall of Famer Larry Bird. 2024–25 standings Notes ...
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Central Division (NBA)
The Central Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams, the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers, and the Milwaukee Bucks. All teams except the Cavaliers are former Midwest Division teams; thus, the Central Division now largely resembles the Midwest Division in the 1970s. An earlier five-team Central Division previously existed for the 1949–50 season as one of three divisions in the NBA, along with the Western and Eastern divisions. The current Central Division was created at the start of the 1970–71 season, when the league expanded from 14 to 17 teams with the addition of the Buffalo Braves, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Portland Trail Blazers. The league realigned itself into two conferences, the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, with two divisions in each conference. The Central Division began with four in ...
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Henry James (basketball)
Henry Charles James (born July 29, 1965) is an American retired professional basketball player out of St. Mary's University, Texas. He played parts of seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as in several other leagues. The 6'8" small forward signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 1990–91 season and in 37 games, averaged 8.1 points per game. He played with six other teams throughout his career, and once in 1996–97 as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, hit a then-record tying seven three-pointers in a quarter. He also had a career in the Philippine Basketball Association and spent parts of 10 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association for the Wichita Falls Texans, Sioux Falls Skyforce and Gary Steelheads. He won a CBA championship with the Skyforce in 1996. James was selected as the CBA Playoff/Finals Most Valuable Player in 1996, and named to the All-CBA First Team in 1994 and All-CBA Second Team in 1993 and 1996. On September 7, 2006 ...
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