1997–98 Atlanta Hawks season

1997–98 Atlanta Hawks season
Head coach	Lenny Wilkens
Arena	Georgia Dome, Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	50–32 (.610)
Place	Division: 4th (Central) Conference: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	East First Round (Eliminated 1–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports South, WTBS, WATL
Radio	WCNN

The 1997–98 NBA season was the Hawks' 49th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 30th season in Atlanta. Due to the demolition of the The Omni, the Hawks played their home games at the Georgia Dome and their original home from 1968 to 1972, the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (known as McDonald's Center at the time). They finished fourth in the Central Division with a 50–32 record. Dikembe Mutombo was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive time, and forward Alan Henderson won the Most Improved Player of The Year award. Scoring leader Steve Smith was selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game along with Mutombo. In the first round of the playoffs, they lost in four games to the Charlotte Hornets.

On March 27, 1998, the Hawks set a single game regular season attendance record of 62,046 fans in a game against the Chicago Bulls at the Georgia Dome. However, the Hawks lost 89-74.

Offseason

Draft picks

Main article: 1997 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	22	Ed Gray	SG	United States	California
2	49	Alain Digbeu	SG/SF	France
2	50	Chris Crawford	SF	United States	Marquette

Roster

Atlanta Hawks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From C 0 Anderson, Greg 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Houston PG 11 Barry, Drew 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 191 lb (87 kg) Georgia Tech PG 10 Blaylock, Mookie 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Oklahoma SF 52 Brown, Chucky 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 214 lb (97 kg) North Carolina State SF 33 Corbin, Tyrone 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) DePaul PF 4 Crawford, Chris 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Marquette SG 22 Gray, Ed  (S) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) California PF 44 Henderson, Alan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Indiana PF 32 Laettner, Christian 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Duke PG 7 Livingston, Randy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 209 lb (95 kg) LSU PF 2 Miller, Anthony 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Michigan State C 55 Mutombo, Dikembe 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Georgetown SG 31 Oliver, Brian 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Georgia Tech PG 3 Recasner, Eldridge 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Washington SG 8 Smith, Steve 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Michigan State	Head coach Lenny Wilkens Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster • Transactions

Roster Notes

• Guard Ed Gray was suspended indefinitely for missing medical appointments.

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Chicago Bulls	62	20	.756	–	37–4	25–16	21–7
x-Indiana Pacers	58	24	.707	4	32–9	26–15	19–9
x-Charlotte Hornets	51	31	.622	11	32–9	19–22	16–12
x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	12	29–12	21–20	19–9
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	47	35	.573	15	27–14	20–21	14–14
Detroit Pistons	37	45	.451	25	25–16	12–29	12–16
Milwaukee Bucks	36	46	.439	26	21–20	15–26	9–19
Toronto Raptors	16	66	.195	46	9–32	7–34	2–26

#	Eastern Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Chicago Bulls	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Miami Heat	55	27	.671	7
3	x-Indiana Pacers	58	24	.707	4
4	x-Charlotte Hornets	51	31	.622	11
5	x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	12
6	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	47	35	.573	15
7	x-New York Knicks	43	39	.524	19
8	x-New Jersey Nets	43	39	.524	19
9	Washington Wizards	42	40	.512	20
10	Orlando Magic	41	41	.500	21
11	Detroit Pistons	37	45	.451	25
12	Boston Celtics	36	46	.439	26
12	Milwaukee Bucks	36	46	.439	26
14	Philadelphia 76ers	31	51	.378	31
15	Toronto Raptors	16	66	.195	46

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

East first round

(4) Charlotte Hornets vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks Last playoff meeting: This was the first meeting between the Hornets and Hawks.

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (CHA-ATL)	Venue	Box score
1	April 23	Charlotte	97	Atlanta	87	1–0	Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina	1	TBS 7:00 et
2	April 25	Charlotte	92	Atlanta	85	2–0	Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina	2	TNT 8:00 et
3	April 28	Atlanta	96	Charlotte	64	2–1	Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia	3	TNT 8:00 et
4	May 1	Atlanta	82	Charlotte	91	3–1	Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia	4	TNT 7:00 et
Charlotte wins series 3–1

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Greg Anderson	50	0	8.0	.444	.000	.390	2.4	.3	.4	.2	1.8
Drew Barry	27	0	9.5	.474	.429	.846	1.3	1.8	.4	.0	2.1
Mookie Blaylock	70	69	38.6	.392	.269	.709	4.9	6.7	2.6	.3	13.2
Chucky Brown	77	8	15.6	.433	.250	.724	2.4	.7	.3	.2	5.0
Tyrone Corbin	79	79	34.2	.439	.348	.789	4.6	2.2	1.3	.1	10.2
Chris Crawford	40	0	6.4	.418	.333	.838	1.0	.2	.3	.2	3.8
Ed Gray	30	3	15.7	.381	.391	.846	1.5	1.1	.5	.4	7.6
Alan Henderson	69	33	29.0	.485	.500	.652	6.4	1.1	.6	.5	14.3
Christian Laettner	74	49	30.8	.485	.222	.864	6.6	2.6	1.0	1.0	13.8
Randy Livingston	12	0	6.8	.250	.	.800	.5	.4	.6	.2	.8
Anthony Miller	37	0	6.2	.558	.	.538	1.9	.1	.4	.1	2.1
Dikembe Mutombo	82	82	35.6	.537	.	.670	11.4	1.0	.4	3.4	13.4
Brian Oliver	5	0	12.2	.368	.	.250	1.8	.4	.2	.0	3.0
Eldridge Recasner	59	14	24.6	.456	.419	.937	2.4	2.0	.7	.0	9.3
Steve Smith	73	73	39.1	.444	.351	.855	4.2	4.0	1.0	0.4	20.1
Donald Whiteside	3	0	5.3	.500	.	.	.3	.3	.0	.0	.7

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Greg Anderson	1	0	4.0	.	.	.000	2.0	.	.	1.0	.
Drew Barry	2	0	2.5	.000	.000	.	.5	.	.	.	.
Mookie Blaylock	4	4	38.3	.415	.296	.583	5.0	8.3	2.3	.3	14.8
Chucky Brown	4	0	12.5	.467	.500	.500	1.5	1.0	.	.	4.0
Tyrone Corbin	4	4	28.3	.280	.167	.	3.8	1.0	1.5	.3	3.8
Chris Crawford	1	0	4.0	.	.	1.000	2.0	.	.	1.0	2.0
Alan Henderson	4	4	31.5	.526	.000	.611	5.5	1.0	.8	.3	12.8
Christian Laettner	4	0	21.8	.343	.000	.882	4.3	1.0	1.5	.3	9.8
Anthony Miller	4	0	8.3	.375	.	1.000	2.3	.3	.5	.3	2.0
Dikembe Mutombo	4	4	34.0	.458	.	.625	12.8	.3	.3	2.3	8.0
Eldridge Recasner	4	0	22.3	.400	.583	1.000	1.0	2.0	.5	.	7.3
Steve Smith	4	4	40.0	.574	.500	.688	2.8	2.3	.5	.8	24.8

Awards and records

• Dikembe Mutombo, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
• Alan Henderson, NBA Most Improved Player Award
• Dikembe Mutombo, All-NBA Third Team
• Dikembe Mutombo, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Mookie Blaylock, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

See also

• 1997-98 NBA season