When Clint Capela first saw the Hawks’ City Edition uniforms, he immediately started taking pictures of them and posting them to social media.
At long last, the Hawks debuted the uniforms, which honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in their 108-97 win against the Timberwolves Monday at State Farm Arena, on MLK Day.
“When I saw it, I was so proud,” Capela said. “I think that I’m really fortunate to be able to wear this jersey, especially today, with this team… There’s no one else but us that got this opportunity today to play, to earn these letters today, and get this win. So I feel really lucky and I feel really fortunate, especially to get the win, it really meant a lot to the team and me.”
Other NBA teams have been wearing warm-up suits that honor King, who was born and raised in Atlanta, but the Hawks are the only ones to wear jerseys that feature “MLK” prominently across the chest, the first time in NBA history that an individual’s initials have been featured prominently on the chest of an official uniform. The Hawks will donate profits from jersey sales back to the Atlanta community, focusing on economic empowerment for communities of color.
“It’s really cool,” Hunter said of the jerseys. “In the city of Atlanta, you know, it’s big. Especially to get a win today. MLK meant so much for the Black community, for the world in general. Being able to come out here and compete, wear those three letters on the front of our chest and represent, get the win, is big.”
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
The win certainly carries extra meaning for the Hawks, as they honor King. They will wear the uniforms on “unity nights” throughout the season.
As far as X’s and O’s go, Monday’s win is a good one for a team that had lost six of its last seven and was looking for a jump-start, as they hope certain injured players (Cam Reddish with a left knee contusion; Danilo Gallinari with a right ankle sprain) can rejoin them soon.
Facing a Minnesota team that was missing Karl-Anthony Towns and Ricky Rubio (health and safety protocols), the Hawks could have put the game out of reach several times had it not been for a season-high 26 turnovers, with the Timberwolves scoring 26 points off those mistakes.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a win,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “And we’ll take a win. It’s easier to watch film after a win, it’s easier to communicate with the guys after a win, and the good thing is we get to play them again and hopefully correct some of the sloppiness of the game, but I thought our guys competed, at the very least, and I thought they executed down the stretch, which was a major point of emphasis for us into that fourth quarter.”
For Pierce, honoring King on MLK Day is special, but it’s also important to keep having those conversations year-round.
“There’s opportunities for everyone to continue to talk about what we can do, what we should do, what the players are doing, what you’re doing, what you think of the current events, it ties in to sports,” Pierce said. “No matter what we say, the fact that we talk about MLK and the fact that we talk about politics, racial and social justice, doesn’t mean we have to walk away from it when there’s not a major event or it’s not MLK Day.”
The Hawks had 16 turnovers in the first half, which helped narrow their once-13 point lead to seven at halftime. The Timberwolves tied it up, 58-58, after starting the third quarter with a 7-0 run, and with 5:59 to go in the fourth, just as the Hawks pulled away, 93-78, with back-to-back 3-pointers by Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter, the Wolves’ D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Anthony Edwards combined to make four 3′s in about two minutes to make it a six-point game.
Russell led all scorers with 31 points.
Out of a timeout, the teams traded baskets, but Trae Young went 6-for-6 from the line as time wound down to seal the win.
“It means a lot to play on MLK Day, just knowing the history behind what he stood for and what he’s done for our country,” Young said. “It means a lot, especially playing here in Atlanta, it means a little bit more, for sure, to us.”
All five Hawks started scored in double-digits: De’Andre Hunter led with a season-high 25 points, Capela added a double-double of 23 points and 15 rebounds, plus 3 blocks, Kevin Huerter had 17 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals, Young had 20 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals and John Collins had 15 points, 7 rebounds and tied his career-high with 4 blocks. Although the Hawks have struggled from 3-point range lately, they had a good night from the 3-point line, making 11 of 28 attempts (39.3%).
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