Greatest of All-Time Atlanta Hawks Series: The Introduction

From Bob Pettit to Lenny Wilkens, the St. Louis Hawks enjoyed both a championship and many great players.

But today we introduce our offseason series on who are the greatest of all-time Atlanta Hawks. Our investigation has taken us to some interesting facts about the team, though some of the great eras in Atlanta basketball, and ultimately who are the greatest ever Atlanta Hawks.

First of all, let's acknowledge the lack of suspense regarding who is at the top. The Namesake, The Human Highlight Film, Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins is the benchmark against whom all other Atlanta Hawks are compared and whose bar for stardom still remains uncleared since his trade in 1994. 

We won't hold his excellence against him--he will get his post when it comes time for #1, but what remains is an excellent collection of players who have graced the courts as an Atlanta Hawks.

How we ranked them was a mixture of statistics, character, and importance to the team and the fans. We used the awesome Basketball Reference site for statistical guidance and the terrific "From Sweet Lou to 'Nique" historical book written by the late, great Jeffrey Denberg with some assistance from a young, spunky PR guy who is now VP of that area, the terrific Arthur Triche.

We held firm to a 300 game minimum, meaning that they had to play at least (4) seasons as a full time Hawk. So if you are wondering where Shareef Adbur-Rahim, Antoine Walker, or Glenn Robinson are, they aren't here...and why were you looking for them anyway?

Stay tuned as we continue in the days ahead our countdown of the Greatest of All-Time Atlanta Hawks!