G – Lou Hudson
Lou Hudson was drafted fourth overall by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1966 NBA Draft. He was a 6’5 small forward/shooting guard, but for the purposes of this team, he’s a full-blown shooting guard. Considering he is only 6’5, shooting guard would likely be his natural position in today’s game anyway.
Hudson, during his 11-year career with the Hawks, averaged 22.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game and he had pretty solid shooting numbers at 48.7 percent from the field and 79.5 percent from the free-throw line.
Hudson also made six All-Star teams and one All-NBA team while playing for the Hawks. Hudson also finished his 13-year NBA career having scored 17,940 points, certainly an impressive feat. Unfortunately, Hudson lacked in terms of team success which is certainly what held him back from making the first-team.
Something interesting about Lou Hudson is that he was actually the original ‘Sweet Lou’. According to Basketball-Reference, Hudson’s nickname was ‘Sweet Lou’, long before Lou Williams was even born!
While the fact that he was the first NBA player with the nickname ‘Sweet Lou’ doesn’t make him one of the greatest Atlanta Hawks ever, his impressive numbers and accolades certainly do.