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The following season, they drafted three-time All-American Bob Cousy, but they were unable to reach a deal and traded him to the Chicago Stags (who would later surrender him in a dispersal draft to the Boston Celtics when the Stags folded). They reached the playoffs in the NBA's inaugural year under the leadership of coach Red Auerbach. In 1949 the Blackhawks became one of the National Basketball Association's 17 original teams after a merger of the 12-year-old NBL and the three-year-old Basketball Association of America (BAA).
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A Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member, Gates helped to integrate the league and later became the first African-American coach in a major sports league, coaching Dayton in 1948. Pop Gates remained on the Blackhawks roster, and finished second on the team in scoring behind future 1949 NBL MVP Don Otten. The team featured guard/ forward and coach Deanglo King, and was owned by Leo Ferris and Ben Kerner. Upon relocation to Moline, the team was renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and played their home games at Wharton Field House, a 6,000-seat arena in Moline. The franchise lasted only 38 days (13 games) in Buffalo when, on December 25, 1946, Leo Ferris, the team's general manager and co-owner, announced that the team would be moving to Moline, Illinois, which at that time was part of an area then known as the " Tri-Cities": Moline, Illinois, Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa.
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The team, which needed to draw 3,600 fans per game to break even, struggled to draw 1,000 fans per game to the Auditorium. On the team was William "Pop" Gates, who, along with William "Dolly" King, was one of the first two African-American players in the NBL. Their first game – a 50–39 victory over the Syracuse Nationals – was played on November 8, 1946. The club was organized by Leo Ferris and the Erie County American Legion and was coached by Nat Hickey. The Bisons were a member of the National Basketball League, and played their games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. The origins of the Atlanta Hawks can be traced to the Buffalo Bisons franchise, which was founded in 1946.
#The players club atlanta professional#
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta.