when did the hawks win the nba championship
Atlanta Hawks The team's origins can be traced to the establishment of the Buffalo Bisons in 1946 in Buffalo, New York, a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) owned by Ben Kerner and Leo Ferris.[7] After 38 days in Buffalo, the team moved to Moline, Illinois, where they were renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks.[8] In 1949, they joined the NBA as part of the merger between the NBL and the Basketball Association of America (BAA), and briefly had Red Auerbach as coach. In 1951, Kerner moved the team to Milwaukee, where they changed their name to the Hawks. Kerner and the team moved again in 1955 to St. Louis, where they won their only NBA championship in 1958 and qualified to play in the NBA Finals in 1957, 1960 and 1961. The Hawks played the Boston Celtics in all four of their trips to the NBA Finals. The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968, when Kerner sold the franchise to Thomas Cousins and former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders.[9][10]
2016–17 NBA season Awards were presented at the NBA Awards ceremony, which were held on June 26. Finalists for voted awards were announced during the playoffs and winners were presented at the award ceremony. The All-NBA Team was announced in advance in order for teams to have all the necessary information to make offseason preparations.
NBA playoffs The National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference (called divisions, pre-1970), ultimately deciding the league's season champion in the NBA Finals.
Boston Celtics With Bill Russell, the Celtics advanced to the 1957 NBA Finals and defeated the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, giving the Celtics the first of their record 17 championships. Russell went on to win 11 championships, making him the most decorated player in NBA history.[15] In 1958, the Celtics again advanced to the NBA Finals, this time losing to the Hawks in 6 games.[16] However, with the acquisition of K.C. Jones that year, the Celtics began a dynasty that would last for more than a decade.[17] In 1959, the Celtics won the NBA Championship after sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers, the first of their record eight consecutive championships.[18] During that time, the Celtics met the Lakers in the Finals five times, starting an intense and often bitter rivalry that has spanned generations. In 1964, the Celtics became the first NBA team to have an all African-American starting lineup. On December 26, 1964, Willie Naulls replaced an injured Tommy Heinsohn, joining Tom 'Satch' Sanders, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, and Bill Russell in the starting lineup. The Celtics defeated St. Louis 97–84. Boston won its next 11 games with Naulls starting in place of Heinsohn.[19] The Celtics of the late-1950s–1960s are widely considered as one of the most dominant teams of all time.[20]