Feb. 24 1994 my saddest day as a fan

[Guest]

I remember the night before, watching my Hawks host the Supersonics on the small television set that my parents had given me for my birthday the prior week. Despite playing horribly for the first 3 quarters, the Hawks made a furious comeback in the 4th quarter out scoring the up and coming Sonics 40-24 to pull out the victory. Dominique, Mookie and company had done it once again. I was on the highest of highs.

There was something truly special about this Lenny Wilkens led squad, something I hadn't experienced in previous seasons. We had a scoring superstar in Nique, a rebounding Greek God machine in Kevin Willis, a quick handed, dime dropping defensive minded point guard in Mookie Blaylock. A 3 point specialist in Craig Ehlo, as well as a deep bench led by plastic man Stacey Augmon. We had the eastern conferences best record and we had all of this with the knowledge and peace of mind that Michael Jordan was off playing baseball and no longer a thorn on our side.

With the rumors swirling around as they often did during the trade deadline, there was plenty of trade talk mentioning the Hawks and the deals that they could make. For once I remember wanting the trade deadline to pass as quickly as possible. I just thought to myself, we have a very balanced team this year and we don't need to add anything. We don't need to fix what ain't broke.

The following day I went about my regular morning routine of reading the daily paper during breakfast before heading off to school. I was in my senior year of high school. It was a really fun carefree time in my life. The day seemed to fly by rather quickly as I hoped that it would. After school I quickly came home to see if there had been any trades made(Back then there wasn't much info on the Internet, at least on my AOL account). It was around 3pm pacific time and no significant trades. We had another 3 hours to go as the trade deadline was 6pm.

From about 3pm until 6pm I was glued to the TV set. I checked CNN headline news every half hour for updates. 3:20pm nothing to report, 3:50pm still nothing. I just kept waiting and checking. 5:20pm came and no Atlanta Hawks news. I was excited, just one more update at 5:50pm and we were home free. Most likely we would have one of our best chances in the playoffs as the #1 seed with no Michael Jordan!!!

I hadn't been this excited in a long time. Apparently we had decided to keep our team together and head to the playoffs as constructed.

The deadline was approaching, it was time for the 5:50pm update. The last CNN headline news update before the deadline was over. Honestly, I remember my palms being sweaty. So they started the sports update and mentioned NHL news, MLB training camp news, I figured it was over, if they were mentioning these minor sporting updates that there wasn't any NBA deals to discuss. At the very end of the segment, the anchor said..."The Atlanta Hawks have traded small forward Dominique Wilkins to the Los Angeles Clippers for forward Danny Manning. My heart absolutely dropped. My worst fear had come to tuition. I swear I froze for about 5 minutes, just staring at the television. Not really watching or listening but just being stunned. My favorite Hawk of all time had been dealt to another team in perhaps the best season the team was enduring in forever. The dream was over in my mind.

After Manning joined the Hawks, I believe we went 20-9 (not sure but somewhere along those lines) to finish the season. After struggling with the Heat in the first round and eventually defeating them in 5 games, we took on an Indiana Pacers team that proved to be too much for us and took us down in 6 games. Our season was over. I was furious with management, I just didn't understand why they would tinker with the chemistry we had going that year.

Looking back on it to this day, as a diehard Hawks fan I want to believe that we would have gotten to the finals and won it all that year.( I know I'm biased). Looking at the stats vs the teams we faced in the playoffs, I believe we would have taken Indy in 6 or 7 games. We were 3-2 vs Indy (although only 1-2 before the Nique trade). Next up I believe we would have struggled with the Knicks but the biased fan in me thinks Nique would have proved too much for the Knicks. They had Oakley and Mason and Charles Smith but nobody to guard Nique. We were 2-2 vs them in the regular season. Eventually we would have faced the Houston Rockets in the first round. Our regular season record vs them was 1-1, however the Rockets were 15-0 when they visited us in Atlanta, and we gave them their first defeat of that season. We were 10-4 at the time.

I can still imagine us holding up the trophy. Nique, Willis and Mookie all hoisting up the trophy in unison with Lenny Wilkens. What could have been the dream season turned out to be the most heart wrenching time as a Hawks fanatic.

[buckeye242424]

Yeah, I remember. Nique is my all time fav.... I hated to see him go. It didn't hurt me as much, because he was aging, and ww we're good. At that time, Manning was looked like as a stud... And we're gonna get better and make a serious push!

Nope.

[turnermx]

I was a Junior in high school, didnt get to watch many of the games but i religiously followed the standings in the newspapers. I knew that trade would kill the teams chances. Manning didnt fit , while a good player, he wasnt a number one option alpha dog like Nique was and the Atlanta fans did not identify with him.

[Guest]

I was a Junior in high school, didnt get to watch many of the games but i religiously followed the standings in the newspapers. I knew that trade would kill the teams chances. Manning didnt fit , while a good player, he wasnt a number one option alpha dog like Nique was and the Atlanta fans did not identify with him.

In many ways I was happy Manning bolted to the Suns that summer. I think it eventually helped us land Deke.

[Guest]

I've told the story before1' First Hawks (NBA)  game ever,  all excited,  I get to see the Human highlight Film  in person - woke that morning to "The  Hawks have trade Dominque Wilkins" I was like 

 

Then:

 

 

 

then still later:

Edited August 9, 2014 by JayBirdHawk

[tonegully]

THE SINGLE WORST DAY IN OUR FRANCHISE HISTORY.  I hate Stan Kasten FOREVER

[Guest]

I understand Nique was getting older and in the last year of his contract. But you have built this team for 9 years in the front court with Nique and Willis and 4 years in the backcourt with Mookie building chemistry with those guys and you finally have your shot in the postseason minus Jordan and with one trade...BAM... 10 years of building is over. Smh. Nique deserved better than that. Have some class people damn.

[Dnice]

Then was not the time to move Nique. Yes stars age and get moved before retiring, but they were battling for first with Jordan in Birmingham. it's like a curse.

[T21]

I thought that was going to be our year... until that...

I remember the game Nique came home with the Clippers, with all the mixed emotions, but also with his passion! I think that it was his passion for the game and hunger for success in Hawks uniform that we missed the most during the Playoffs (Willis was also injured during the Indy series)! Manning was an All-Star and a good player, but Nique was a superstar hungry for his moment under the spotlight of the biggest stage in the sport! I personally like to believe that it would have made all the difference...

Edited August 9, 2014 by T21

[Dejay]

I was a season ticket holder until that season ended; inflection on the word WAS. I know several others who haven't stepped foot in the building for a Hawks game since that trade.

When you have an aging star who carried your franchise on his back for over a decade, you don't reward him for his service by trading him for a guy who never wanted to be here in the first place. That goes double if the team is 36-15, in first place, with no Bird, Isiah, or Jordan to deal with come playoff time. Trade for a guard who could actually shoot (Augmon was the starting two at the time) and we would've been printing out Finals tickets in March. That was his (and our) last chance at glory; leave it to Babs and Kasten to eff it all up.

Safe to say that things didn't go as planned...

Edited August 9, 2014 by Dejay

[Wretch]

All these years, I've wondered why I didn't remember the trade so much.  It happened while I was in basic training.  That's probably what started an argument I had with this dude from NY (he was convinced ATL drafted Nique).  I remember being VERY discouraged and wanting to see the truth of the trade for myself (since I was locked up in the barracks for 2 months).  My reaction to seeing Danny Manning in a Hawks uni was absolute disgust.  I was pissed, disgusted, and discouraged.  After watching Manning for a few games...I knew we weren't going to do shit in the playoffs and I knew he wasn't coming back.

[AHF]

That remains such a brutal moment in Hawks history.  Just brutal from every direction.

[ATLHawks3]

You guys went through a tough time.. 

[Guest]

By the way I forgot to mention the CNN headline sports news anchor was Van Earl Wright for you old schoolers that remember his quirky way of saying.."Im Van Earl Wright...CNN heaaadddlinnee news"....:-(

Wonder what happened to that guy lol

Edited August 10, 2014 by Spud2Nique

[Dejay]

Manning didnt fit , while a good player, he wasnt a number one option alpha dog like Nique was and the Atlanta fans did not identify with him.

You weren't lying with that statement. Fans here immediately knew four things from watching him in a Hawks jersey...

1) He always had the 'can't wait to get out of this uniform' look on his face. In one of the very first interviews he gave after the trade, he actually stated that the Hawks were NOT on his list of teams he wanted to sign with when he became a free agent at the end of the season; and it showed. The vibe he gave screamed get me the eff outta town.

2) He wasn't an alpha dog like Nique. He might've carried Kansas to a title but when they needed him to hang a 37/7 to keep hope alive, well...

3) We weren't winning the title. Or the East for that matter. They nearly lost in the first round to the Heat with a one-legged Steve Smith leading the way.

4) He wasn't coming back. He was literally on the first plane back West after they lost to the Pacers.

Simply the worst trade this franchise ever made since leaving the Midwest. The worst....

Edited August 10, 2014 by Dejay

[DrReality]

Kasten was on his way out about then

[AHF]

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I was a student at UT-Knoxville when that trade went down.  I used to get constantly ripped for wearing my Hawks Starter jacket around campus.   This one:

 

 

I used to religiously follow the NBA and constantly read stats in USA Today.  It was pretty much a ritual for one of our crew to buy a USA Today on Wednesday, just so we can get the extended NBA coverage.  Back then, you only got info via newspapers and ESPN.  ( the internet was still a baby ).   I even went to the library to read the AJC sometimes, just to get local Hawks coverage.

 

From what I remember, there were 3 things going on before that trade deadline:

 

- Nique wanted an extension, I believe a 3 year - 21 million deal . . at age 34

- Coach Lenny Wilkens didn't like Nique's shot selection at times, nor his defense.

- Kasten was determined to either sign Nique for one year, or deal him . . so that he can get some value

 

To the first point, that was probably too much for Nique at that age, despite still being a very good player.   I do believe though that the Hawks could've come to some sort of compromise in the offseason.  

 

The 2nd point was valid.   Nique had a good year that season, but was up and down as a scorer.   With Mookie and Stacey, Lenny was already in the process of molding the Hawks into a defense first team.

 

The 3rd point was the killer.  With the Hawks basically refusing to give Nique a big money deal, they were determined to trade him for something.  A HUGE Red Flag should've alerted the Hawks that something could go wrong in retaining Danny Manning, if they traded Nique ( and a 1st round pick ) for him.   Manning was an All-Star that season who was also about to become an unrestricted free agent, and wanted desperately out of LA.   Like others have said, the minute he came to Atlanta, he looked as if he did not want to be there either.

 

Manning wasn't bad as a Hawk.  He just didn't have that Alpha Dog scoring mentality that Nique had, which can carry you in difficult games.  Manning was by far a better team player.  But you need that KILLER on the squad at times.  And that punk Manning was no "killer".

 

From a franchise standpoint, the trade may have been decent, if Manning was locked up long term.  But the fact that you could lose him too in the offseason, was a risk not worth taking.  It was a slap in the face to trade Nique off the best team in Atlanta Hawk history, but also a slap in the face to the fans.   They owed it to us and to Nique to see if he could finally break through in the playoffs, with no Jordan around.

 

The only time I've ever cheered against the Hawks, or wanted them to lose, was when Nique came back to Atlanta as a LA Clipper.  Nique shined, while Manning just faded into the background and had a horrible game. 

 

This is a good but short interview with Nique about 2 years ago on ESPN's Highly Questionable.   He talks about the trade about 1 minute into the clip.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbrrAjVm1lw

[Guest]

I was a student at UT-Knoxville when that trade went down. I used to get constantly ripped for wearing my Hawks Starter jacket around campus. This one:

I used to religiously follow the NBA and constantly read stats in USA Today. It was pretty much a ritual for one of our crew to buy a USA Today on Wednesday, just so we can get the extended NBA coverage. Back then, you only got info via newspapers and ESPN. ( the internet was still a baby ). I even went to the library to read the AJC sometimes, just to get local Hawks coverage.

From what I remember, there were 3 things going on before that trade deadline:

- Nique wanted an extension, I believe a 3 year - 21 million deal . . at age 34

- Coach Lenny Wilkens didn't like Nique's shot selection at times, nor his defense.

- Kasten was determined to either sign Nique for one year, or deal him . . so that he can get some value

To the first point, that was probably too much for Nique at that age, despite still being a very good player. I do believe though that the Hawks could've come to some sort of compromise in the offseason.

The 2nd point was valid. Nique had a good year that season, but was up and down as a scorer. With Mookie and Stacey, Lenny was already in the process of molding the Hawks into a defense first team.

The 3rd point was the killer. With the Hawks basically refusing to give Nique a big money deal, they were determined to trade him for something. A HUGE Red Flag should've alerted the Hawks that something could go wrong in retaining Danny Manning, if they traded Nique ( and a 1st round pick ) for him. Manning was an All-Star that season who was also about to become an unrestricted free agent, and wanted desperately out of LA. Like others have said, the minute he came to Atlanta, he looked as if he did not want to be there either.

Manning wasn't bad as a Hawk. He just didn't have that Alpha Dog scoring mentality that Nique had, which can carry you in difficult games. Manning was by far a better team player. But you need that KILLER on the squad at times. And that punk Manning was no "killer".

From a franchise standpoint, the trade may have been decent, if Manning was locked up long term. But the fact that you could lose him too in the offseason, was a risk not worth taking. It was a slap in the face to trade Nique off the best team in Atlanta Hawk history, but also a slap in the face to the fans. They owed it to us and to Nique to see if he could finally break through in the playoffs, with no Jordan around.

The only time I've ever cheered against the Hawks, or wanted them to lose, was when Nique came back to Atlanta as a LA Clipper. Nique shined, while Manning just faded into the background and had a horrible game.

This is a good but short interview with Nique about 2 years ago on ESPN's Highly Questionable. He talks about the trade about 1 minute into the clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbrrAjVm1lw

Northcyde...I bought that same jacket when I was in the 6th grade. As a matter of fact it's still in the very back of my closet. I would say it was my favorite jacket of all time, that's including every jacket. Lol.

I also found a weird old photo if myself that my dad must have taken. I'm wearing the jacket with the hawks starter cap that matched (not sure if you remember the cap but it was exactly like the jacket) and Im pretending to palm a basketball, doing this off one leg with my tongue out like Michael Jordan...lol. I would love to attach this photo for the squawkers but it's just too damn embarrassing lol.

[Guest]

Northcyde...I bought that same jacket when I was in the 6th grade. As a matter of fact it's still in the very back of my closet. I would say it was my favorite jacket of all time, that's including every jacket. Lol.

I also found a weird old photo if myself that my dad must have taken. I'm wearing the jacket with the hawks starter cap that matched (not sure if you remember the cap but it was exactly like the jacket) and Im pretending to palm a basketball, doing this off one leg with my tongue out like Michael Jordan...lol. I would love to attach this photo for the squawkers but it's just too damn embarrassing lol.

C'mon, after that description you can't not post the picture...lol.