Letter from Steve Belkin

[Hawksman]

September 19, 2003

"As the Atlanta Spirit LLC group prepares to take over ownership of the Hawks, Thrashers and operating rights to Philips Arena, let me express my excitement to our fans as I accomplish the realization of a lifelong dream.

"For 20 years, it has been my goal to obtain an NBA franchise, and I feel very fortunate to be part of a team that has the resources and intention on bringing a championship-caliber team to the city of Atlanta and our fans and making Philips Arena a very difficult place for the opposition to play every night.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to bring our business and marketing expertise to this great sports town. Coming from the Boston area, I've grown up with the Celtics culture and followed their success, and we hope to create that same winning, family atmosphere here in Atlanta. We feel we have an all-star team with our ownership group and we have all the confidence in the world that both the Hawks and Thrashers can be all-star teams.

"Michael (Gearon, Jr.) and I will oversee the basketball operations of the Hawks and we want you to understand that we have the financial resources to build a championship team. We will do what is required to accomplish that and provide Billy Knight and Terry Stotts with the necessary support to put a winning product on the floor.

"On a personal note, it has been quite a year for me. I've gone from one of the lowest points in my life when Larry Bird and I came in second in our pursuit to obtain the Charlotte franchise, to one of the most gratifying days of my life when we reached this deal with AOL Time Warner. Simply put, it can't get any better than this.

"We will work diligently to instill a sense of pride throughout the community with our work on and off the court as we put all of our energies towards creating an entertaining and winning product you will be proud of.

"We look forward to regaining your trust and your support, and we expect to see you soon at Philips Arena."

[Boondocks]

Dare I say we struck gold with this "spirit" group?

[Lascar78]

knock on wood. but it's for sure that of all the groups out there looking to buy a team, they are clearly the best. Let's hope we can get over the bad luck atlanta has had over the past years. I have faith we can get this thing going...

[Carl_Spackler]

where you get an article, letter or anything else like that...I know you're just a kid and probably don't know any better but you really should at the VERY LEAST provide a link, not just cut/paste and re-post.

[Guest]

Relax Carl... The letter is on the Hawks website.