2002–03 Atlanta Hawks season

The 2002–03 Atlanta Hawks season was the 54th season for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association, and their 35th season in Atlanta, Georgia.^[1] The city of Atlanta hosted the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena this season, which featured the 2003 NBA All-Star Game.

During the off-season, the Hawks acquired All-Star forward Glenn Robinson from the Milwaukee Bucks,^[2][3][4] acquired rookie point guard Dan Dickau out of Gonzaga University from the Sacramento Kings,^[5] and signed free agent Darvin Ham.^[6] However, DerMarr Johnson suffered a broken neck from an off-season car accident in September. Johnson and two other passengers were in Johnson's car, when it crossed the center line, hit a tree and caught on fire; it was not known who was driving the car. Johnson would miss the entire regular season.^[7][8][9]

With the addition of Robinson, and with Theo Ratliff playing in his first full season with the team after dealing with injuries, the Hawks got off to a 6–4 start to the regular season, which included a road win over the 3-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, 95–83 at the Staples Center on November 12, 2002.^[10][11][12] However, after a 10–10 start to the season, the team struggled and fell below .500 in winning percentage, losing 12 of their next 14 games, as head coach Lon Kruger was fired after the team held an 11–16 record in late December, and was replaced with assistant coach Terry Stotts.^[13][14][15] Under Stotts, the Hawks lost 12 of their next 15 games, including two six-game losing streaks in December and January, and held a 19–30 record at the All-Star break.^[16] Despite winning six of their final eight games in April, the team finished in fifth place in the Central Division with a 35–47 record.^[17]

Robinson averaged 20.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, while Shareef Abdur-Rahim averaged 19.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, and Jason Terry provided the team with 17.2 points, 7.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and also led them with 160 three-point field goals. In addition, Dion Glover contributed 9.7 points per game, while Ratliff provided with 8.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game, and Ira Newble contributed 7.7 points per game. Off the bench, Alan Henderson averaged 4.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and Nazr Mohammed provided with 4.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, but only played just 35 games due to injury.^[18] Ratliff finished in ninth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting,^[19] while Glover finished tied in 26th place in Most Improved Player voting.^[19]

The Hawks finished 28th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 528,655 at the Philips Arena during the regular season, which was the second-lowest in the league.^[18][20] Following the season, Robinson was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers after only one season with the Hawks,^[21][22][23] while Newble signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers,^[24][25] Ham signed with the Detroit Pistons,^[26] and Johnson and Emanual Davis were both released to free agency.

For the season, the Hawks slightly changed their uniforms, replacing the jersey numbers on the left side of their shorts with the team's primary logo; these uniforms would remain in use until 2007.^[27][28]