Atlanta Hawks: 20 best players of all-time
Atlanta Hawks. Dan Roundfield. 9. player. 125. . PF
Best Atlanta Hawks of all-time – Dan Roundfield (1978-1984)
Dan Roundfield started his professional basketball career in the ABA and joined the Indiana Pacers in 1976 when the ABA merged with the NBA.
Roundfield joined the Atlanta Hawks in 1978 as a free agent and would spend the next six seasons on the team. He averaged a points and rebounds double-double in all of his seasons with the Hawks which is impressive, to say the least. Roundfield was an NBA All-Star 3 times with the Hawks and in his best scoring season averaged 19.0 points and 11.4 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game.
Known as a defensive stopper, Roundfield was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team three times and the All-Defensive Second Team twice.
The Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs in 5 of Roundfield’s six seasons with the team. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals twice before losing to the Washington Bullets and Philadelphia Sixers in subsequent seasons.
Roundfield was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1980. He was traded to the Detroit Pistons in 1984 ending his time with the Atlanta Hawks. He’d go on to play for the Detroit Pistons and Washington Bullets before ending his career in 1987.
125. . C/PF. Atlanta Hawks. Shareef Abdur-Rahim. 8. player
Best Atlanta Hawks of all-time – Shareef Abdur-Rahim (2001-2004)
Selected third overall in the 1996 NBA Draft behind Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim spent his first 5 NBA seasons with the Vancouver Grizzlies, providing immediate scoring for them in his rookie season. He’d make the NBA All-Rookie team in 1997, averaging 18.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. His scoring would continue to improve but Abdur-Rahim wouldn’t earn his first trip to the All-Star Game until his first season with the Atlanta Hawks in 2001.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Jason Terry, and Glenn Robinson all led the Atlanta Hawks averaging over 17 points per game in the 2002-2003 season, and still, the Hawks never made it to the playoffs with Abdur-Rahim on the roster.
He averaged 20.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in his 3 seasons with the Hawks. It’s surprising that the team couldn’t accomplish more with Abdur-Rahim than they did but at the end of his third year, management decided on a massive overhaul and he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2004. He would sign as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings in 2005 and would retire with the Kings in 2008. He transitioned into coaching and eventually became an NBA Executive. Shareef Abdur-Rahim has been the President of the NBA G League since 2018.