1999–2000 Atlanta Hawks season

The 1999–2000 Atlanta Hawks season was the 51st season for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association, and their 32nd season in Atlanta, Georgia.^[1] After two seasons of splitting their home games between the Georgia Dome, and the Alexander Memorial Coliseum, the Hawks played their first season at the Philips Arena, which was built over the site of the Omni Coliseum.^[2][3][4]

The Hawks had four first-round draft picks in the 1999 NBA draft, selecting point guard Jason Terry from the University of Arizona with the tenth overall pick, which was acquired from the Golden State Warriors via trade; the team also selected power forward Cal Bowdler out of Old Dominion University with the 17th overall pick, selected shooting guard Dion Glover out of Georgia Tech University with the 20th overall pick, and selected small forward Jumaine Jones from the University of Georgia with the 27th overall pick, but soon traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a future draft pick.^[5][6][7] During the off-season, the team acquired Isaiah Rider and Jim Jackson from the Portland Trail Blazers,^[8][9][10] acquired Bimbo Coles and former Hawks forward Duane Ferrell from the Golden State Warriors,^[11][12][13] and acquired Lorenzen Wright from the Los Angeles Clippers.^[14][15][16] However, Ferrell was released to free agency.

With the addition of Rider, Jackson, Coles and Terry, the Hawks lost six of their first seven games of the regular season, but soon posted a five-game winning streak between November and December, leading to a 9–9 start to the season. However, the team struggled and fell below .500 in winning percentage, losing 11 of their next 13 games, and later on holding a 19–28 record at the All-Star break.^[17] Rider led the Hawks in scoring averaging 19.3 points and 3.7 assists per game, but had a history of behavioral problems both on and off the court. After showing up late for a game in March, he was released to free agency after 60 games,^[18][19][20] while Anthony Johnson was traded to the Orlando Magic in exchange for a future draft pick at mid-season;^[21] Rider would later on sign with the Los Angeles Lakers during the following off-season.^[22][23][24] The Hawks struggled posting a nine-game losing streak in April, and finished in seventh place in the Central Division with a disappointing 28–54 record, missing the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 1991–92 season.^[25]

Jackson averaged 16.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, and led the Hawks with 117 three-point field goals, while Alan Henderson averaged 13.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, and Dikembe Mutombo provided the team with 11.5 points, 14.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game. In addition, Coles contributed 8.1 points and 3.6 assists per game, while off the bench, LaPhonso Ellis provided with 8.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, but only played 58 games due to a calf injury,^[26] and Terry contributed 8.1 points and 4.3 assists per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Meanwhile, second-year forward Roshown McLeod contributed 7.2 points per game, but only played just 44 games due to injury, and Wright averaged 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game off the bench.^[27]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at The Arena in Oakland in Oakland, California, Mutombo was selected for the 2000 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team;^[28][29][30] he also finished tied in third place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.^[31][32] This was also Mutombo's final full season with the Hawks, as he would later on be traded to the Philadelphia 76ers midway through the next season.^[33][34][35]

The Hawks finished 25th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 600,954 at the Philips Arena during the regular season, which was the fifth-lowest in the league.^[27][36] Following the season, head coach Lenny Wilkens resigned after seven seasons with the Hawks, and left to take a coaching job with the Toronto Raptors,^[37][38][39] while Coles signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Ellis signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[40]

For the season, the Hawks redesigned their home and road uniforms, removing their primary logo of a hawk from the front of their jerseys, and adding side panels to their jerseys and shorts; the left leg of their shorts featured the jersey number, while the right leg featured their primary logo. The white home uniforms featured a red, yellow and black trim, and red side panels with yellow and black outlines, while the road uniforms were changed from their previous black-to-red fade gradient to red, and featured a white, yellow and black trim, and white side panels.^[41][42] The new uniforms would remain in use until 2007, although in 2002, the jersey number would be replaced with the team's primary logo on the left leg of their shorts; in 2004, the white trim color would be changed to red on their road uniforms.