The

1998–99 NBA season The 1998–99 NBA season was the 53rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to the lockout, the regular season was reduced to 50 games for each team, and began on February 5, 1999. The 1999 NBA All-Star Game, which was to be ...

was the 50th season for the

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

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 their 31st season in

Atlanta, Georgia 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 ...

. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50. The Hawks continued to split their home games between the

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a Stadium#Types, domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown Atlanta, downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of th ...

, and the Alexander Memorial Coliseum for the second consecutive season. During the off-season, the team signed free agents LaPhonso Ellis, second-year guard Anthony Johnson and re-signed former Hawks forward Grant Long; Ellis would reunite with his former teammate of 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 ...

, 3-time Defensive Player of the Year

Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (June 25, 1966 – September 30, 2024) was a Congolese-American professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo ...

. However, Ellis would be out for the remainder of the regular season with a hernia injury after just 20 games, being replaced by second-year forward Chris Crawford as the team's starting small forward. The Hawks played around .500 basketball with a 9–9 start to the season, then later on posted a 7-game winning streak in April, and won nine of their final eleven games. The team finished in second place in the Central Division with a 31–19 record, earned the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference, and qualified for the

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 afte ...

for the seventh consecutive year. Steve Smith led the team in scoring with 18.7 points per game, while

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. C ...

averaged 13.3 points, 5.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game, and Mutombo provided the team with 10.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. In addition, Alan Henderson provided with 12.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while Ellis contributed 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds, and Long played a sixth man role, averaging 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game off the bench. Corbin contributed 7.5 points per game also off the bench, and Crawford provided with 6.9 points per game. Mutombo and Blaylock were both named to the

NBA All-Defensive Second 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 ...

, and Mutombo also finished in second place in Defensive Player of the Year voting. In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1999 NBA playoffs, the Hawks faced off against the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

; despite losing Henderson to an eye injury in Game 1, and losing Crawford to a shoulder injury in Game 2, the Hawks defeated the Pistons in five games, but would be swept by the 8th-seeded

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 ...

in four straight games in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. The Knicks would become the first #8 seed to reach the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, but would lose in five games to the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. This season would also be the last time the Hawks appear in the playoffs until

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. The Hawks finished 27th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 331,831 at the Georgia Dome, and the Alexander Memorial Coliseum, which was the third-lowest during the regular season. Following the season, Smith and second-year guard Ed Gray were both traded to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

, while Blaylock was traded to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

after seven seasons in Atlanta, Long signed as a free agent with the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

, and Tyrone Corbin re-signed with 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 ...

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

Game log

, - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , -

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , May 8 ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

W 90–70
, Steve Smith (19) ,

(19) ,

(7) ,

20,884 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , May 10 ,

W 89–69
,

(28) ,

(13) ,

(6) ,

16,377 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 12 , @

L 63–79
, Tyrone Corbin (16) ,

(10) ,

(5) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
14,812 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 14 , @

L 82–103
, Steve Smith (21) ,

(8) , Corbin,

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

(4) , The Palace of Auburn Hills
16,216 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , May 16 ,

W 87–75
, Grant Long (26) ,

(18) , Blaylock, Smith (6) , Alexander Memorial Coliseum
8,460 , 3–2 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , May 18 , New York
L 92–100
, Chris Crawford (26) ,

(13) ,

(4) ,

18,513 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , May 20 , New York
L 70–77
,

(17) ,

(17) , Steve Smith (2) ,

22,558 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 23 , @ New York
L 78–90
,

Long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

, Smith (17) ,

(16) ,

(3) ,

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

19,763 , 0–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 24 , @ New York
L 66–79
, Steve Smith (14) ,

, Mutombo (11) , three players tied (3) ,

19,763 , 0–4 , -

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades

June 24, 1998 *Traded

Cory Carr Cory Jermaine Carr (; born December 5, 1975) is an American-born Israeli retired basketball player, former NBA and Israeli Basketball Premier League player, and head coach of Israeli women's basketball team Israel Girls Basketball Academy. Carr ...

, a 1999 second round draft pick and a 2000 second round draft pick to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

for Shammond Williams. January 22, 1999 *Traded

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 Collegi ...

to the

for Scot Pollard and a 1999 first round draft pick.

Free agents

January 21, 1999 *Signed Jeff Sheppard as a free agent. *Signed Anthony Johnson as a free agent. *Signed Mark West as a free agent. January 30, 1999 *Signed LaPhonso Ellis as a free agent. February 1, 1999 *Signed Grant Long as a free agent. February 16, 1999 *Waived Jeff Sheppard. February 19, 1999 *Waived Scot Pollard. *Waived Shammond Williams. February 22, 1999 *Signed Jeff Sheppard as a free agent. March 4, 1999 *Waived Jeff Sheppard. March 19, 1999 *Signed Jeff Sheppard to the first of two 10-day contracts. April 8, 1999 *Signed Jeff Sheppard to a contract for the rest of the season. Player Transactions Citation:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 Atlanta Hawks Season Atlanta Hawks seasons

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

See also

References