Pac's Resurrection: The Official 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks Season Thread

Dominique Wilkins

Dominique Wilkins

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"Dominique Belongs to Us", a one-hour documentary produced by ESPN Films and the SEC Network, is the story of Wilkins becoming Georgia's adopted son at a time in his life when a home and an extended family of neighbors were the things he sought more than anything else.

Wilkins, born in France and raised in Baltimore, ended up around family in the coastal town of Washington, N.C. with the dream of making a life in basketball. "Dominique Belongs to Us" closely documents his high school career and state championships, as well as the speed with which the adulation soured when local fans became bitter with his decision to attend college at the University of Georgia. No 19-year-old kid, especially one who loved and loved being loved as much as Dominique did, should ever have to worry about death threats towards him and his family.

The film also chronicled his three fulfilling years as a collegian in Athens, Ga., as well as his December 2014 return to Washington after more than three decades of staying away.

(The lighter side of the film, and there definitely is one, revolves around 1980s hair, high-school yearbook photos, as well as some youthful clips of Paul Finebaum and Tony Barnhart.)

After the film, Wilkins recalled the relief of staying in Georgia to start his NBA career.

"When they said I was coming to Atlanta, I was getting ready to sign my contract and I said, 'Guys, can you hold up for a minute?' I walked outside, and started screaming at the top of my voice. And when I came back, I was calm. I was good. I was like, 'I'm ready to sign.' That's a true story. That was a stressful time."

"There's no place I've ever felt more at home than the State of Georgia. And I'm never leaving."

"Dominique Belongs to Us" airs Friday, April 17 at 8 PM ET on ESPN.

Story by KL Chouinard
Twitter: @AnaheimAmigos
 
Dominique Wilkins

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http://www.thenation.com/blog/204425/police-story-unravels-how-did-nypd-break-nba-players-leg

A Police Story Unravels: How Did the NYPD Break an NBA Player’s Leg?
Dave Zirin on April 15, 2015 - 5:55 PM ET
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New York City police officers on patrol in Brooklyn. (Reuters/Eric Thayer)

At the risk of stating the utterly obvious, most Black men and women who suffer physical violence at the hands of the police aren't millionaires. They don't have lawyers on speed dial and lack the resources of a well-funded union leaping to their defense. But most Black men and women aren't NBA players. In other words, they aren't Thabo Sefolosha. The Atlanta Hawks guard will now miss the playoffs after an encounter with the NYPD left him with a fractured leg and an arrest record. In his first comments following the late night scuffle outside a Chelsea club, Sefolosha made clear that while his attorneys asked him to be silent for now, "I will simply say that I am in great pain, have experienced a significant injury and that the injury was caused by the police."

Already, the gap between the initial police accounts—reprinted as objective narration by some media outlets—and the version that’s coming to light, should be giving NYPD Commissioner William Bratton night sweats. The official story was that Thabo and teammate Pero Antic were arrested after being asked "six times" to leave a crime scene where NBA player Chris Copeland was stabbed. Then, as the original police report proclaimed, “the defendant Thabo Sefolosha [ran] in an aggressive manner towards the direction of Police Officer Daniel Dongvort" and "Officer Dongvort’s back was facing the defendant at the time."

Yet facts are stubborn things, and the most stubborn fact that makes this story feel like fantasy is that the arrest took place well over 40 yards away from the stabbing. I went down to the block where the stabbing and subsequent arrest took place. The distance is considerable in the light of day. So imagine how far away they would have seemed with dozens of people crowding a narrow 10th avenue sidewalk in between the stabbing and their retreat toward the team hotel. The idea that police were yelling on six separate occasions over the heads of throngs of people—amidst ambulances and all matter of chaos—for two men to walk away, seems absurd.

An alternative version of what may have happened was told to SI's Greg Hanlon by an anonymous source who had spoken to several people on the scene.

In this version, as people were dispersing following the Copeland stabbing, "one officer focused on Sefolosha, and then he continues to track him down the block like a D-back tracking a receiver.” Then according to Hanlon's source, “Sefolosha turns to him and asked in substance what the officer’s problem was with him.” Sefolosha was subsequently knocked to the ground, where according to video, an officer is clearly unsheathing and raising some kind of baton.

What sounds more realistic? That Thabo Sefolosha whose off-court reputation is pristine, decided to bum-rush a police officer whose back was turned, or that a pissed off cop, adrenalized over a melee involving a stabbed NBA player, chose to get aggressive with the other Black NBA player on the premises.

These kinds of confrontations do not happen every day but they do happen. Police engage in racial profiling and NBA players, who could not be in the league without healthy egos, don’t like being treated like shyt by cops. It’s simply a recipe for conflict. Remember the pepper spraying of Chris Webber, when he wouldn’t get off his phone quickly enough for an officer who pulled him over in his car, or the tasing of Dale Davis, after the Indiana Pacers power forward dared police officers to shoot him. Those are only two examples and I could list several more. What I cannot find is an instance with an NBA player seeing a police officer and just going on the attack. Perhaps that is why Internal Affairs is now investigating the arresting officers.

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What happened to Thabo Sefolosha has happened before. But this case is also different. It is the first one to take place amidst the presence of the Black Lives Matter movement against police violence; the first "cops vs. jocks" story to happen in simultaneous fashion with stories such as the execution shooting of Walter Scott by Officer Michael Slager and the recording of a police officer responding to the dying Eric Harris' plea that he could not breathe because of a police bullet in his back, with "fukk your breath." It is the first one to happen after a fall of NBA players taking the court to say that they stand with the thousands who believe that the police have a responsibility to not kill the unarmed.

Now the ball is in Thabo Sefolosha’s hands. He is clearly preparing a lawsuit against the NYPD and if successful, good for him. As the head of an NAACP branch who asked his name to be withheld said to me, “The police are like any business. You sue. You take their money. You get the bureaucrats nervous and hopefully that means you change their behavior.” This is a valid point. But we have also seen big city police departments pay out millions with little to show for it in changed behavior. New York City alone has belched up half a billion dollars since 2009, to settle police brutality civil suits out of court. This payout did not save Eric Garner anymore than it spared Thabo Sefolosha. But if Thabo chooses to mount a public campaign and if NBA players choose to amplify it during the playoffs, then we could have something powerful on our hands that hastens the changes in policing so desperately obvious with every felled Black body. Whatever path Thabo Sefolosha selects may be a personal and business decision before it is a political one. But going public is the best way for Thabo to take the “great pain” he is in, and give some back.
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CHICAGO — Paul Millsap will return to the Hawks lineup and start against the Bulls in the regular-season finale Wednesday.

The All-Star forward missed the past five games with a sprain and contusion of his right shoulder. He suffered the injury against the Nets April 4.

Millsap returned to practice Tuesday and said he would like to play in the finale to get ready for the playoffs, which start this weekend. The team wanted to see how Millsap responded to the workout before making a final decision.


Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) and Brooklyn Nets forward Thaddeus Young (30) fight for a loose ball in the first quarter during a recent game at Philips Arena. Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
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CHICAGO — Game 1 of the Hawks’ first-round playoff series will be Sunday and televised on TNT.

The NBA announced a partial postseason schedule Wednesday. Game time has not been determined.

The Hawks will host either the Pacers or the Nets to start the playoffs. The opponent will be decided following tonight’s final regular-season games.


Atlanta Hawks’ DeMarre Carroll dunks to finish off a fast break against the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 8, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
In other schedules released by the league:

Western Conference

N.O. OR OKC at Golden State, Saturday, TBD, ABC/ESPN Radio

Eastern Conference

Boston at Cleveland, Sunday, TBD, ABC/ESPN Radio

Milwaukee OR Washington at Toronto, Saturday, TBD, ESPN

Milwaukee OR Washington at Chicago, Saturday, TBD, ESPN
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CHICAGO — So much has been already written of this Hawks’ storybook season.

Six months ago, who would have imagined the heights the organization has already reached? The record book has been altered, time and again. The attention of a city has been captured. The national spotlight has shone bright on a franchise – at first exposing a near-crippling controversy and then highlighting the stage of success.

There may be more to come.


Kevin C. Cox
The Hawks’ Paul Millsap (4) drives against the Heat’s Luol Deng (9) during a game earlier this season. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

“For our organization, for our city, for our players, it’s something that has been great to be a part of,” said Mike Budenholzer, one of the authors of the remarkable narrative in just his second season as head coach. “The way the city has gotten excited, the way everybody has embraced our team and our players because of some (of the records), we are all proud of. It’s been great to be a part of that.”

The Hawks entered the regular-season finale against the Bulls Wednesday night with a franchise-record 60 wins. They are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, something accomplished just one other time in Atlanta history. Their opening-round playoff opponent – either the Pacers or the Nets – won’t be determined until late Wednesday following the completion of the NBA schedule. Game 1 in Atlanta will be Sunday and televised by TNT, the league announced. Game time has not been determined.

The list of regular-season accomplishments is lengthy:

* The 60 victories easily eclipsed the previous franchise mark of 57, set in 1986-87 and 1993-94.

* The 25 road victories are also a record, besting the 22 wins set in 1986-87.

* The 19-game win streak was a franchise best and the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. The run of wins, from Dec. 27 to Jan. 31, represented the longest win streak in Atlanta professional sports history.

* That streak included a perfect 17-0 month of January, a first in NBA history. The Hawks were rewarded by having all five starters – DeMarre Carroll, Al Horford, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague - named the Player of the Month, another league first.

* There were 12-game win streaks, one at home and one on the road, which both represent team records.

* The 13-game win streak against the Eastern Conference is a franchise mark.

* Consecutive wins against the Bulls, Cavaliers, Rockets, Mavericks and Clippers represented opponents with a .685 winning percentage. It was the highest combined winning percentage of any teams Atlanta had beaten in five straight games.

* Four starters –Horford, Korver, Millsap and Teague – were named the All-Star team. It was the eighth time in history that one team had four All-Stars in a season.

And those are just the highlights.

“It means it’s been a great regular season,” Korver said of the success. “It really has been. There have been a lot of really good things that have happened in the city and the organization. We can feel good about 60 wins but it’s a regular-season accomplishment. We’ll think about those things in a few months. We feel like we are in a good spot. We’ve done what we’ve wanted to do up to this point.”

The chapters are on the regular season are closed. The postseason is when the real history will be made. The Hawks have made the postseason eight consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in the Eastern Conference. However, they have never advanced past the second round, a point of concern and disappointment for the fan base.

The Hawks’ management, coaches and players understand. They have repeated a mantra all season that success will be measured by the postseason. A championship is the goal.

“You can’t get too high on that,” Carroll said of the regular season. “We are preparing for bigger and better things.”

What makes the Hawks’ run more impressive is the firestorm that engulfed the franchise in September. The team and arena are for sale after the discovery of racially insensitive remarks from a 2012 email sent by controlling owner Bruce Levenson. That email was revealed in an internal investigation prompted by comments made by general manager Danny Ferry regarded free-agent target Luol Deng during a June conference call with ownership and management. Ferry has been on an indefinite leave of absence the entire season.

It could have gone south on the Hawks - in a hurry. They started 5-5 and 7-6. They were questioned on whether they were just a .500 team.

They were not.

The Hawks won 33 of their next 35 games the re-writing of the record book began.

“It’s definitely special for the Atlanta Hawks organization and our fans,” Horford said. “I’m very proud to be a part of that.”

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