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ATLANTA - The Atlanta Hawks have requested waivers on center Nene, it was announced today. He was acquired by the Hawks from the Houston Rockets on February 5, 2020, along with Clint Capela, in a four-team trade involving 12 players.

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Hawks Request Waivers On Nene

ATLANTA - Trae Young gave his mom an extra-long hug after his pregame shooting session. Lloyd Pierce remembered his late cousin. Vince Carter wiped away tears during the National Anthem.

Sunday was a difficult day to play a basketball game as NBA players and coaches, like millions around the world, mourned the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi following a helicopter crash in California. 

Vince Carter, who met 15-year-old Kobe when they were AAU teammates, took note of the reactions of his teammates, many of whom were too young to remember the first half of Kobe's career.

"Obviously, he is a hero of a lot of them," Carter said. "To see the blank stares on their faces brought a somber mood to the locker room. Very little was talked about – game-planning or basketball – because it was bigger than basketball."

In his pregame press conference, head coach Lloyd Pierce paid homage to the professional and personal sides of Kobe.

"I grew up on the West Coast. I was a Laker fan as a child. I had to denounce being a Laker fan once you get into the profession. But I've always respected his greatness, because of his detail and his passion and the intensity with which he plays. But there's nothing more than the respect I have for him as a father. Every image you see of him post-retirement is with his daughters, with his family. Everything you see online, on Twitter is about positivity. He is encouraging others. And I think it has been the biggest transformation of a competitor to a human being that I've ever seen."

The passing of an NBA legend hit a lot of people in a lot of deeply personal ways, Pierce included. “Forgive me for being emotional,” he said before sharing a story about the loss of his cousin, a Navy pilot stationed in San Diego, in a helicopter crash in 1998, Pierce's senior year of college.

“I still have a hard time looking at helicopters. There are just certain things you don’t get over. Today is that day.”

It was a somber day for so many in the building.

Collins met Kobe personally this summer for the first time at a special summer training session for select NBA players. He said it was an inspiration that he will never forget.

“I almost didn’t want to play today," John Collins said. "I’ve got a Fathead of him on my wall, I’ve got jerseys of his, pictures, I could go on for days. We look at him as our generation’s (Michael) Jordan, at least for me. I'm praying for his family, his loved ones and everything surrounding the situation.”

Bruno Fernando, who lost his mother this month and who wears jersey #24, started at center. He set career highs in both points (14) and rebounds (12), and he notched his first career double-double.

Owners Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz started their family in Los Angeles before they purchased the Hawks.

The one person in the arena with perhaps the biggest burden to shoulder was Trae Young. Trae idolized Kobe, but Gigi idolized Trae. Two of the small handful of games that the Bryants attended this season were Hawks games. Gigi wanted to see Trae play. Trae met with them after both games.

"His daughter was a big fan of mine, and he was always trying to figure out new ways to help his kids learn," Trae said. "He found out that I worked with my trainer, Alex Bazzell, so he got in contact with him. Gigi started working out with Alex Bazzell. That's how me and Kobe got introduced – it was through my trainer."

At the start of the game, Trae took off his warmups to reveal jersey #8. The Hawks and Wizards took intentional 8-second and 24-second violations at the start of game to pay tribute to the two jersey numbers that Kobe wore over the duration of his NBA career. The Hawks called timeout, and Trae switched back into his usual jersey #11.

In a fitting tribute to Kobe, a player who saved his best shows for the biggest stages, Trae played an electric game. He scored 45 points. He handed out 14 assists to his teammates, many of which either started as no-look passes or ended as thunderous alley-oops.

If there was any doubt that something special was happening, Trae stole a full-court pass with two seconds left in the first half, calmly stepped in the direction of the basket and dropped in a heave from beyond half court. Trae tapped his chest and pointed to the sky.

Carter, the Hawk who knew Kobe best and certainly the one who knew Kobe the longest, took solace in what he saw from Kobe on the sidelines of games in recent years and what he heard when he spoke with him.

"It wasn't the Mamba competing against whoever. It was Dad teaching his daughter the ins and outs of the game, and how he sees it, and how she can learn to break the game down. That's what I saw and I think that is what a lot of people could see and I think that's what catches the basketball world off guard more than anything because we all saw it."

"For those of us who played against him and knew him, that was what was gut-wrenching more than anything because of his happiness, because of that conversation I had with him. He was telling me, 'I'm at peace. I'm happy. I'm at my happiest.' All these championships that he won, MVPs, 81 (points) – he was at his happiest in retirement."

Rest in peace, Kobe, and be at your happiest.

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Hawks Players, Coaches, Ownership Mourn Passing Of Kobe Bryant

ATLANTA - Atlanta Hawks forward Jabari Parker was re-evaluated yesterday at State Farm Arena. He has been cleared to progress to the next step of his rehabilitation, which will include controlled movement and gradual reloading of his rotator cuff. He will be re-examined in two weeks and his status will be updated following that examination.

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Atlanta Hawks Injury Update - Jabari Parker

NEW YORK – The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James leads the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Dončić by 149,564 votes for the top spot in the Western Conference and among all NBA players in the third fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting presented by Google.

The NBA All-Star Game starter from each conference who receives the most fan votes in his conference will be the team captains and draft the rosters for the 69th NBA All-Star Game.  The NBA All-Star Draft will air Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.  The captains will choose from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves in each conference, making their selections regardless of conference affiliation.    

Voting for fans, players and media will conclude on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 20 at 11:59 p.m. ET.  Fans account for 50 percent of the vote to determine the 10 starters for the 2020 NBAAll-Star Game, which will take place at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.  All current NBA players and a media panel each account for 25 percent of the vote, with every voter completing one full ballot featuring two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference.

Today (Jan. 16) and the final day for All-Star voting (Jan. 20) are the last of five “2-for-1 Days,” allowing fans to have their votes count twice through all voting platforms from 12 a.m. – 11:59 p.m. ET. TNT will reveal the NBA All-Star Game starters, including the two team captains, next Thursday, Jan. 23 during TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by Autotrader.  The network will also announce the reserves, as selected by NBA head coaches, on Thursday, Jan. 30 during TNT NBA Tip-Off.    

In the third fan returns, James, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis and the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard hold the top three spots, in that order, in the Western Conference frontcourt.  Dončić has the most votes among the West guards, followed by the Houston Rockets’ James Harden.

In the Eastern Conference, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving leads the Boston Celtics’ Kemba Walker by 16,985 votes for second place among guards, behind first-place Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks.  In the frontcourt, the Toronto Raptors’ Pascal Siakam has passed the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid by 34,668 votes for the second spot, behind first-place Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.    

NBA ALL-STAR VOTING PRESENTED BY GOOGLE: THIRD FAN RETURNS

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 4,474,107

After all votes are tallied, players will be ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes.  Each player’s score will be calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes.  The two guards and three frontcourt players with the best score in each conference will be named NBA All-Star Game starters.  Fan voting will serve as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score.

NBA All-Star 2020 in Chicago will bring together the most talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of the game.  The 69th NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 16 at the United Center, will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.  TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 18th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 35th year of NBA All-Star coverage.  United Center will also host Rising Stars on Friday, Feb. 14 and State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, Feb. 15.  The NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Ruffles on Feb. 14 and the NBA All-Star Practice &amp; Media Day presented by AT&amp;T on Feb. 15 will take place at Wintrust Arena.

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Trae Young Still Leads Eastern Conference Guards in Third Fan Returns of NBA All-Star Voting

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks have acquired guards Treveon (TRAY-vee-ahn) Graham and Jeff Teague from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for guard/forward Allen Crabbe, it was announced today.

Teague, originally selected 19th overall by the Hawks in the 2009 NBA Draft, has averaged 12.7 points, 5.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 27.7 minutes (.446 FG%, .357 3FG%, .843 FT%) over the course of 746 games (589 starts) with Atlanta, Indiana and Minnesota. In 34 games (13 starts) with the Timberwolves this season, Teague posted 13.2 points and 6.1 assists (.448 FG%, .379 3FG%, .868 FT%) in 27.8 minutes. 

The 10-year veteran spent his first seven seasons with the Hawks and compiled 12.1 points, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game in 518 contests (383 starts). The Wake Forest product ranks fifth on Atlanta’s all-time assists list (2,671), seventh in steals (613) and ninth in 3FGM (420) and was named an Eastern Conference All-Star during the 2014-15 season. He will wear jersey No. 00.

Graham, who made his NBA debut in 2016-17, has appeared in 158 games (44 starting assignments) with Charlotte, Brooklyn and Minnesota. The 6’6” shooting guard from Virginia Commonwealth has averaged 4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per contest for his career. A native of Temple Hills, MD., Graham averaged 5.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in 33 games (20 starts) with the Timberwolves this season. He will wear jersey No. 2.

The Hawks acquired Crabbe from Brooklyn on July 6, 2019. The six-year veteran saw action in 28 games (one starting assignment) for Atlanta and averaged 5.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 18.6 minutes. For his career, he’s posted 9.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 24.2 minutes (.426 FG%, .389 FG%, .833 FT%) over 372 games (113 starts).

Hawks Top Story

Hawks Request Waivers On Nene

Hawks Players, Coaches, Ownership Mourn Passing Of Kobe Bryant

Atlanta Hawks Injury Update - Jabari Parker

Trae Young Still Leads Eastern Conference Guards in Third Fan Returns of NBA All-Star Voting

Hawks Acquire Jeff Teague And Treveon Graham From Minnesota In Exchange For Allen Crabbe