Conference - Eastern Conference Division- Southeast Division Founded - 1946 (Joined NBA In 1949) History - Buffalo Bisons (1946) Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946–51) Milwaukee Hawks (1951–55) St. Louis Hawks (1955–68) Atlanta Hawks (1968–present) Arena(s) - Philips Arena City(s) - Atlanta, Georgia Team colors(s) - Navy blue, red, silver, white Owner(s) - Atlanta Spirit, LLC (Michael Gearon, governor) General manager(s) - Rick Sund Head coach - Mike Woodson D-League (s) - Utah Flash Championships(s) - 1 (1958) Conference titles - 4 (Western): (1957, 1958, 1960, 1961) Division titles- 14 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1980, 1987, 1994) Franchise history -

The franchise was formed in 1946 as the National Basketball League's Buffalo Bisons. The Bisons featured center Don Otten and coach Nat Hickey, but on December 27, 1946—only thirteen games into their inaugural season—owner Ben Kerner moved the team to Moline, Illinois (See Buffalo Memorial Auditorium). (At that time, the area was known as the "Tri-Cities" (Moline, Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa.), though today it is called the Quad Cities). Kerner renamed the team the Tri-Cities Blackhawks; the Blackhawks were named after the Black Hawk War that was mostly fought in Illinois.

The Blackhawks became one of the National Basketball Association's 17 original teams after a merger in 1949 of the 12-year-old NBL and the four-year-old Basketball Association of America. The Blackhawks reached the playoffs in the NBA's inaugural year, under the leadership of coach Red Auerbach. However, the following season, after the team drafted Bob Cousy and made the blunder of trading his rights to the Chicago Stags (who would later surrender him in a dispersal draft to the Boston Celtics after they folded), they failed to qualify for the postseason. In 1951, the franchise relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and became the Milwaukee Hawks. In 1953, the Hawks drafted Bob Pettit, a future NBA MVP. Despite this, the Hawks were one of the league's worst teams, and in 1955 the Hawks moved yet again, this time to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1957, the team advanced to the 1957 NBA Finals, losing to the Boston Celtics in a double-overtime thriller in game seven.

In 1958, the Hawks again advanced to the NBA Finals under coach Alex Hannum and captured their only NBA Championship in game 6 against the Celtics. The Hawks remained one of the NBA's premier teams for the next decade. In 1960, under coach Ed Macauley, the team advanced to the Finals yet again, but lost—again to the Celtics—in yet another game seven thriller. The following year, with the acquisition of rookie Lenny Wilkens, the Hawks repeated their success, but met the Celtics in the Finals again and lost in five games.