The Atlanta Hawks have been awarded another MLK day game this season, this time hosting the Miami Heat on the holiday. The Hawks have had a mostly positive record on MLK day, going 26-14 in the 40 games that they have played on Jan. 16.
The NBA has made this day another one of their highlighted matchup days. not quite on the same level as the Christmas Day games, of which the Hawks missed out on this season. What is significant is that despite Georgia being the birthplace of Martin Luther King jr, the Hawks have not hosted or played on every MLK day since it was made a holiday back in 1986.
That honor goes to the New York Knicks, who also seem to get Christmas Day games too despite not deserving them. Anyway, that is a discussion for another time, let us celebrate the fact that the Hawks have a deserved game on this special and significant day.
How have the Atlanta Hawks been over the last ten seasons on MLK day?
Counting back to the 2012 season, the Hawks have played seven games on MLK day per statmuse.com. They have won five of these games and lost two of them, including the 106-112 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last season as they came out of the Covid-19 crisis.
In three of the games since the 2012 season, the Hawks have played the Brooklyn Nets. The Hawks hold the upper hand in these matchups, taking two wins to one loss. However, they have never played this season’s opponent on MLK Day, the Heat.
This will be the second time the Hawks will take on the Heat. They will be looking to start avenging the playoff loss from last season. However, what is more important for the Hawks is that if they win then they take a game on a strong division rival. Hopefully Trae Young is not going to be contained as he was in the playoffs.
What would be even more impressive for the Hawks is if they could win it in this season’s MLK jersey. in the 2020-21 season, they were 9-1 in the MLK jersey which was a big part of their success in a season that almost saw the Hawks make the NBA Finals.