FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/19/2021 CONTACT: Hawks Communications (404) 878-3800
FROM BUILDING TO BELIEVING: AWARD-WNNING AUTHOR IAN THOMSEN CHRONICLES THE MAKING OF THE HAWKS IN THREE-PART SERIES EXCLUSIVE TO HAWKS.COM
ATLANTA – Today the Atlanta Hawks announced that Ian Thomsen, one of the NBA’s most respected writers and voices for more than three decades, has penned a three-part feature, detailing the building of the 2020-21 Hawks team, exclusively for Hawks.com. The first piece entitled “The Investment” will be posted on Hawks.com at https://www.nba.com/hawks/news/investment, with the final two chapters available on Thursday and Friday respectively.
Thomsen has covered the NBA since the 1980s at The Boston Globe before spending two decades as a senior writer at Sports Illustrated where he wrote profiles of NBA stars at the NBA Draft, the Finals, Olympic Games and other major moments. Widely known for his longform storytelling, his book The Soul of Basketball details the 2010-11 NBA season and its legacy-defining impact on a number of its stars.
At 41-31 (.569), the Hawks finished 5th in the Eastern Conference, earning their first trip to the NBA Playoffs since the 2016-17 season. Overcoming an injury-ravaged season where the team finished in the top three in games missed due to injury, the Hawks rebounded from a 14-20 start to finish 27-11 with the Eastern Conference’s top record since March 1.
Atlanta enters their playoff matchup against the New York Knicks on a four-game win streak and having won 11 straight at State Farm Arena, the longest active home win streak in the NBA.
#TrueToAtlanta
ABOUT IAN THOMSEN Ian Thomsen, author of The Soul of Basketball, has been writing about the NBA since the 1980s, when he covered all three of the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird NBA Finals for The Boston Globe. He covered the NBA fulltime for 15 years as a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and for another two years at NBA.com. As sports columnist with the International Herald Tribune, the world’s largest newspaper, he was based in Paris and London for a total of six years. He also was a charter staff member of The National Sports Daily. Thomsen, who currently works for Northeastern University, lives in Boston.
ABOUT THE ATLANTA HAWKS Committed to entertaining and uniting the city of Atlanta since 1968, the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena, under the leadership of Principal Owners Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz, continue to build bridges through basketball by following its True to Atlanta mantra. On the court, the Hawks’ exciting young core is led by All-Star point guard Trae Young as the organization received the NBA’s top ranking in overall in-game experience for the last two seasons. Off the court, the Hawks organization focuses on positively impacting the lives of Atlantans through providing access to youth basketball, fighting food insecurity, and the recent transformation of State Farm Arena into Georgia’s largest-ever voting precinct for the 2020 elections. The Hawks family also includes the College Park Skyhawks (NBA G League) and Hawks Talon Gaming Club (NBA 2K League). Atlanta Hawks Membership, which includes your seat for every home game for the 2020-21 regular season, is on sale now at www.hawks.com/membership or by calling 866-715-1500. For more information on the Hawks, log on to www.hawks.com or follow us on social media