NBA FUN FACTS:
ATLANTA HAWKS

The team almost pushed the Celtics out in the first round last year. That's fun!

Getty Images

"YO ADRIAN! Hawks get out of the first round this year." "Rock, you're drunk."

[Ed's note: We're rolling out a 'Fun Facts' on every team in the NBA before the season starts. For more information and to see the other teams profiled, please go here.]

This much you know: the Atlanta Hawks lost Josh Childress to Greece and in the process, the NBA will be completely torn asunder! Naw. But seriously, that is a big loss for the Hawks. Our take: any team with Zaza Pachulia is still a team we want to watch. Here we go with some fun info on 'em.

1. Speaking of Zaza, his nickname is "Balboa." Cool.

2. Shadow Mountain High in Phoenix alums: Mike Bibby, Curt Schilling, Misty Hyman, Ashley Roberts from The Pussycat Dolls and the girl who played the younger sister on 8 Simple Rules (ya know, the girl who isn't in The Big Bang Theory now. Yea, her!)

3. One of our roommates in college goes crazy everytime Ronald "Flip" Murray is mentioned. Flip came on pretty strong in the 2003 season, dropping more than 20 in 10 of the first 11 games. One of the Sonics announcers screamed during one of the games, "FLIP MURRAY IS DOING EVERYTHING HERE EXCEPT SELLING POPCORN!" We never found it that funny, but hey.

4. Just watch this.

5. Then this.

6. And finally, since this was a world record, you should also watch it.

7. Former Ohio State standout (sadly, he went undrafted) Othello Hunter has a blog on the Hawks website and it's actually pretty good.

8. You could make a strong argument that the website for the Hawks' 'A-Town Dancers' is the most comprehensive dance team website in the entire NBA. There's a good chance one of them has been on I Love New York.

9. Mike Woodson played for Bobby Knight at Indiana. Knight's coaching tree is a mixed bag. See this, from CBSSports: "After Krzyzewski, Knight's most successful college protégé is Mike Davis, which must gall Knight to no end. Others include Bowling Green's Dan Dakich, Army's Jim Crews and Bob Weltlich, formerly of Ole Miss, Texas (fired), Florida International (fired) and South Alabama (fired). Additionally, Iowa's Steve Alford and NBA-types Randy Wittman, Quinn Buckner, Isiah Thomas, Butch Carter and Glen Grunwald played for Knight at Indiana."

10. The past and the future in one interview. Side note: Dominique has been added to all Hawks' TV broadcasts this season!

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine