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ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club has re-signed guard Kent Bazemore, it was announced today by President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach Mike Budenholzer.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Bazemore, 27, set single-season career highs nearly every statistical category last year, his second in Atlanta, after averaging 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 27.8 minutes (.441 FG%, .357 3FG%, .815 FT%) in 75 games (68 starting assignments).  He ranked second on the club in steals per game and free throw percentage, and third in rebounds per game and three-pointers made (109).  The four-year veteran scored in double-figures 41 times, including 11 20-point outings, and posted his first career double-double (at Detroit on Mar. 16).

“We are excited to re-sign Kent and welcome him back to the Hawks,” Budenholzer said.  “His passion for the game is contagious and through his tireless work ethic, he has developed into a dynamic two-way player.  We look forward to his continued development with us.”

The 6’5 guard originally signed with the Hawks as free agent on Sept. 23, 2014 after spending parts of his first two years with the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers.  In his first season in an Atlanta uniform (2014-15) he posted 5.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 17.6 minutes in 75 games (10 starts).

Bazemore owns career averages of 6.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 16.5 minutes, seeing action in 278 games (93 starts).

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Hawks Re-Sign Kent Bazemore

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club has acquired the draft rights to Taurean Prince, the 12th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, from the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team trade, it was announced today by General Manager Wes Wilcox.  As part of the deal, the Hawks will send guard Jeff Teague to Indiana and the Jazz will receive guard George Hill from the Pacers.

“Taurean has many of the qualities that we value in our program…we are excited to add his competitiveness, toughness, versatility, and desire to improve,” Wilcox said.  “We would also like to thank Coach Scott Drew and Baylor Basketball for their help throughout the scouting process.  Taurean is eager to get started and we look forward to beginning his development with our coaches and athletic performance team.”

“I would like to thank Jeff for his seven years with the organization, and our three years together,” said Hawks President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach Mike Budenholzer.  “Jeff developed into a key contributor and played an integral role in the team’s recent success.  We wish him well in the next chapter of his career.”

Prince, a four-year letterman at Baylor, averaged 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 34 games as a senior while garnering First Team All-Big 12 honors.  The 6’8 forward was also named Second Team All-Big 12 as junior as well as the league’s Sixth Man of the Year after recording 13.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.3 assists in 33 contests.  Prince owns career averages of 10.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting .460 from the field, .376 from three-point range and .718 from the free throw line in 129 games.

Teague has seen action in 518 career games (383 starts) with the Hawks since being selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft out of Wake Forest, averaging 12.1 points, 5.2 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals.  The seven-year veteran has also played in 62 career postseason contests.

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Hawks Acquire Draft Rights To Taurean Prince

Basketball has long been described as a beautiful, athletic and powerful team game.

In Atlanta, we know it’s more than just a game though. Hawks Basketball has shown the ability to unite and rally a city. It’s a part of the emotional, connective tissue that makes our city thrive.

We are so fortunate to have passionate members and fans that live and die with each make and miss. They come out every night in their Torch Red and Volt Green. They bring all of their friends to games. They can’t wait to show their kids - the next generation of Hawks basketball fans – the beauty of the game and what a good Hawks fan looks like.

Prior to this season, we introduced a dynamic new ownership team led by Tony Ressler and Grant Hill, who have provided the vision and resources for the Hawks to truly be great. They know this is Atlanta’s team and are committed to ensuring that our franchise is a true community asset and deserving of this ever-expanding global city. We followed that by unveiling the boldest uniforms in professional sports with new vibrant new colors such as Volt Green, Torch Red and Georgia Granite Gray.

Those were just the firsts of many memorable moments this season:

We won together and we lost together. We rejoiced after a playoff series victory and agonized after a playoff series defeat. Those moments - good and bad - motivate us. We hold ourselves to a high standard and we realize that we didn’t achieve our ultimate goal this season. It drives us to work that much harder to make this great city proud and to continue methodically building on the strong foundation of our team and culture.

We’re proud that we’ve been able to win 108 games over the past two seasons, the most-ever over a two-year period in franchise history. Our franchise has also won 12 intense playoff games over the past two postseasons, the most any Hawks team has in nearly 50 years. But there’s still so much more to do, and we plan to do it united as an organization and city.

There are many exciting events to help us get to our ultimate goal as we look ahead both on and off the court. Next month, along with our partners at Emory Healthcare, we anticipate breaking ground on a world-class training facility and sports medicine center that will help us train, retain and attract the best athletes in the world. Our goal is to make Atlanta a destination for sports medicine, athletic care and high-performance athletes.

We will enter June’s NBA Draft with multiple picks and proceed to free agency with financial flexibility, as we look to build on our team’s already strong foundation.

In the community, we will construct or refurbish five more courts during the upcoming season as well as provide scholarships to our basketball camps. We will also create even more special opportunities to meet and engage with our players.

Thank you, once again, for being true to the Hawks this season and we look forward to continuing to be True to Atlanta.

President of Basketball Operations &amp; Head Coach

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Thank You True Believers

ATLANTA – FOX Sports Southeast will continue coverage of the Atlanta Hawks through the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs. The No. 4 seed Hawks will open at home against the No. 5 seed Boston Celtics on Saturday, April 16, at 7:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports Southeast. Coverage will begin with Hawks LIVE! at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The games, along with Hawks LIVE!, will also be available on FOX Sports GO (FOXSportsGo.com), a free app that provides live streaming video of Hawks games through select programming distributors, as well as other FOX Sports programming.

Play-by-play announcer Bob Rathbun and analyst Dominique Wilkins will call the action with Olivia Harlan providing interviews and in-game reports. Hawks LIVE! will deliver the latest team news before and after every FOX Sports Southeast game telecast, anchored by Andre Aldridge and Mike “Stinger” Glenn.

Atlanta Hawks Eastern Conference Schedule on FOX Sports Southeast** and FOX Sports GO:

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FOX Sports Southeast to Televise Atlanta Hawks in First Round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs

ATLANTA — Paul Millsap today was named NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, Apr. 4 through Sunday, Apr. 10.

In winning the honor for the second time in his career, Millsap led the Hawks to a perfect 3-0 week (home wins over Phoenix, Toronto and Boston), averaging 19.0 points, 15.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 4.3 blocks and 2.0 steals (.488 FG%, .462 3FG%, .786 FT%). He recorded a double-double in all three games and has a streak of four straight double-doubles overall. Including the three-game winning streak, Atlanta has won 17-of-21 dating back to Feb. 26.

Millsap led the NBA last week in rebounds per game, total blocks (13), blocks per game, total defensive rebounds (39) and defensive rebounds per game (13.0), while ranking second in the league in total rebounds (47) and tied for second in double-doubles.

In the Apr. 9 contest vs. Boston, Millsap had 31 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks, three assists and two steals (13-22 FGs, 5-7 3FGs), becoming the first player in NBA history to tally at least 30 points, 15 boards, five blocks and five 3FGM in the same game.  Against Phoenix (Apr. 5), he tallied 13 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocks, becoming the first player in franchise history to have least those numbers in a game (per the Elias Sports Bureau). 

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Paul Millsap Named Eastern Conference Player Of The Week

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club and Emory Healthcare today announced plans to partner as well as build a first-of-its-kind training and sports medicine center on Executive Park Drive in Brookhaven, which will serve as the team’s official practice site. The privately-funded facility will feature the most advanced technology in sports medicine and athletic care built within a state-of-the-art training center with amenities. The team expects to break ground this summer on the 90,000-square-foot facility, and the Hawks Basketball Operations Department will be housed in the facility upon its completion.

In addition to the naming rights entitlement of the training and sports medicine facility, Emory will become the official sports medicine provider of the team. Emory Healthcare and the Emory Healthcare Network comprise the most comprehensive health system in Georgia, and Emory University is one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers.  

“When we became owners, one of our top priorities was to provide the resources necessary to build a world-class training facility—a key element of being a first-class franchise that consistently competes at the highest level. We are thrilled with the partnership that Steve and Bud have forged with Dr. Boden and the Emory team in developing a new facility that will be at the forefront of how professional teams approach integrating sports medical technology in their training centers,” Hawks Principal Owner Tony Ressler said. “It is a privilege to be partnering with a local institution that is a world leader in the medical field and that also shares our vision and passion for excellence.  In addition, we are proud that this facility will go beyond benefitting just our players, but will also be a valuable sports medicine resource available to the entire community.”

The Hawks’ new facility will be the first in the NBA to be co-located with an entire sports medicine center, allowing for expert and immediate treatment and on-site access to state-of-the-art equipment such as the 3 Tesla MRI scanner, which provides the best quality and fastest diagnosis for soft tissue and bone bruise injuries. Emory will utilize roughly 30,000-square-feet to offer the most comprehensive in preventative and rehabilitative treatment and sports performance training. The entire roster of doctors, surgeons and specialists from Emory’s current Sports Medicine Center will also make Brookhaven its permanent home and treat patients inside the new facility.

“Emory Healthcare has built outstanding orthopaedics services over the past decade and we are excited to continue to grow this area and work closely with the Atlanta Hawks,” says Jonathan S. Lewin, MD, FACR, President, CEO and Chair-man of the Board of Emory Healthcare. “Delivering on-site care not only will enable us to provide faster care to Hawks players, but also will enhance our ability to conduct sports performance research and translate what we learn to all athletes both professional and recreational.”

Offerings are set to include 3D motion capture, force plates to measure joint stress and on-site blood/sweat testing and analysis for nutritional deficits and markers vital for the creation of individualized health and recovery plans.  A fully dedicated recovery area including cryotherapy, sensory deprivation tanks and in-ground hydrotherapy will also be on-site. Additionally, all non-sports orthopaedic specialties will be located two blocks away at The Emory Orthopaedics &amp; Spine Center.

“We are fortunate to have found a perfect partner in Emory. Its outstanding reputation, commitment to providing unparalleled healthcare and dedication to being innovative in its practice fits the ideals of our brand,” Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said. “The development of this facility is another example of how Tony Ressler, Grant Hill and our ownership team have very quickly begun to implement their vision and provide the resources necessary to make our organization an industry leader.”

“This strategic partnership will enable two outstanding organizations to create a new vision for sports medicine care and research for athletes at the highest levels of their game and translate this knowledge to our college, high school, and weekend athletes,” said Scott D. Boden, MD, Director of The Emory Orthopaedics &amp; Spine Center and Chief Medical Officer of The Emory University Orthopaedics &amp; Spine Hospital. “The addition of P3, the world renowned leader in peak performance enhancement, will make our facility and the city of Atlanta a destination for the most elite of athletes.”

Founded in 2006, by Harvard trained physician, Dr. Marcus Elliott, P3 is the world leader in applied sports science. Over the past 10-years, the P3 team has been pioneering the use of advanced sports science technologies and front-edge applications in US pro sports. P3 specializes in quantifying athletic performance and developing precisely tailored training programs for elite athletes that boost individual performance and enhance career productivity. Numerous pro teams and hundreds of professional athletes have benefited from their precise, data-driven approach to athlete development, including current Hawks, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap. P3 is transforming the world of professional sport through advanced biomechanical assessment, data analytics and intelligent, individualized program design. This will be the first time that P3 has expanded to a new location outside of Santa Barbara.

“We place a great emphasis within our basketball program on player development, and the improvement of each player within our system is critical to our team’s collective success. The foundation of that development is ensuring the peak health and conditioning of our players and providing each of them with the coaching, resources and environment to develop to the best of their ability,” President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Partnering with Emory and having P3 in our building will allow us to maximize the talent of our players, coaches and basketball operations staff while providing the best treatment and care possible.”

HOK, the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering firm and second-largest interior design firm, has been hired as the leading architects on the project. The firm recently designed the award-winning Porsche Cars North America Experience Center and Headquarters in Atlanta and served as designer of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is set to open in 2017.  HOK has 24 offices [globally], including in Atlanta.

Atlanta-based construction and management firm H.J. Russell &amp; Company will serve as the project management team. Founded in 1952 by Herman J. Russell, the company is one of the largest minority-owned real estate firms in the United States.

The Hawks will provide additional details about the training and medical center, including additional renderings and design plans, at a later date. For more information, visit www.Hawks.com/trainingfacility.

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Hawks And Emory Healthcare Announce Plans To Build World-Class Sports Medicine Center And Training Facility

ATLANTA – All jokes aside when multi-platinum rapper, actor and entrepreneur, T.I. comes back to reign over Philips Arena on April 1.  The highly-anticipated contest between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be nationally televised.  Known as “The King of the South”, Clifford Harris aka TIP will command the court at both halftime and postgame that night as part of the Hawks ongoing Sprite Concert Series.

The game is set to start at 8 p.m. with the broadcast on both FOX Sports Southeast and ESPN.

“TIP is part of the Hawks family and has been a True Believer since Day One!  Like the Hawks, he is consistently taking bold steps to keep his brand fresh and relevant with his fans, whether it’s his new gig in Vegas or foray into the streaming business,” said Steve Koonin, Atlanta Hawks CEO. “Anytime T.I. wants to perform for our fans, the door is open!”

Last month T.I. was newly minted as one of the 20 celebrity/artist owners of the Jay-Z led music streaming service Tidal.  His upcoming album Dime Trap will be distributed exclusively by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.  A multi-grammy winner with a social media following in the tens of millions, T.I. is set to add to his string of 19 Top-40 hits when the album is released in June.

“It’s only right that I come back to Philips Arena and rock the crowd as the Hawks get ready to make another playoff run,” said T.I. “I’ve been ‘True to Atlanta’ my whole life, so I’m ready to support my city and my team like only I can. We’re gonna turn it all the way up for the last Friday game of the season.”

Jeezy, Rich Homie Quan, Silento and Big Grams, a collaboration between Big Boi and Phantogram, have all held down center court with performances under the Sprite sponsored concert banner this season.  The Hawks and Sprite have collaborated to promote this latest show with a special offer of a game ticket along with unlimited Sprite and popcorn. Go to Hawks.com/sprite to purchase tickets. 

“As a longtime friend of the Hawks, Sprite has enjoyed providing basketball fans thirst-quenching refreshment.  Now, we are excited to also bring them the latest music from top hip hop artists via the Sprite Concert Series,”  said Kimberly Paige,  Vice President, Sparkling Brands, Sprite and Flavors, Coca-Cola North America.

The April 1 Hawks game will fall between shows for TIP’s new monthly residency at Drai’s Nightclub in Las Vegas.  Beginning this month, he joins the ranks of other popular mono-name chart toppers including Britney, Mariah, Prince and Celine, who have established regular, on-going appearances in on the well-known nightlife strip.

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The King Of The South, T.I. Returns To The Hardwood In Hawks' Sprite® Concert Series On April 1

ATLANTA – On Saturday, March 19, the biggest social event in Atlanta will take place when the Hawks host “Swipe Right 2.0” as the club battles the Houston Rockets at 7:30 p.m. Building on the success of last season’s “Swipe Right Night,” the Hawks have upped the fun factor by adding complimentary glam stations, multiple hosts, a retail component and even more unique places for fans to meet in person.

“Last January’s ‘Swipe Right Night’ was a national sensation and allowed a broad audience to experience the creativity and fun of our brand,” said Hawks CEO Steve Koonin. “This year’s ‘Swipe Right 2.0’ ushers in the official start of spring, and love will be in the air at Philips Arena. This night’s amazing game experience will help our fans make, in the words of our partners at Tinder, ‘new friends, dates, relationships, and everything in between.’”

Tinder-themed rooms will give like-minded Hawks fans the chance to create face-to-face connections that just may go beyond the arena walls. Throughout the night, the exclusive “Swipe Right” and “Super Like” lounges will be the place for Tinder users to take introductions “off-line” to mix and mingle with each other.  Access to the spaces will be limited to guests who have downloaded the mobile app on their smartphones.

Adding to the excitement, some of Atlanta’s most eligible singles will be present in the lounges and various Atlanta radio personalities from some of the city’s top stations will be on-hand to help break the ice and keep the surprises coming.

"Tinder is a perfect fit for live events," said Phil Schwarz, CMO of Tinder. "We know that combining Tinder with the electric energy inside Philips Arena for ‘Swipe Right 2.0’ will create an amazing social environment for fans to meet while enjoying the game. We are excited to be partnering with the Hawks once again to bring fans something totally unique."

The Hawks are offering a “Swipe Right” ticket package at Hawks.com/swiperight starting at $70 for two seats.  There will also be a special, limited-edition t-shirt available in the Hawks Shop retail outlets in Philips Arena.

The Tinder app is compatible with Android and Apple devices and is available for download from the iTunes or Google Play stores.

#SwipeRightATL        #TrueToAtlanta