Atlanta Hawks Nostalgia: Revisiting the Joe Johnson Era of Atlanta Hawks Basketball (2005-2012)

While the team results didn't necessarily have a good amount of success for the first few years of Johnson's tenure, Johnson did, however, lead the team in multiple categories from points at 20.2, assists at 6.5, steals at 1.6, three point field goals made at 128, and played an average of 40.7 minutes per game. For two seasons in Atlanta, particularly his first, Johnson played in all 82 games and helped usher in a new era of Hawks basketball with a mix of veteran and young teammates, including Josh Smith, Al Horford, Mike Bibby, and later Jamal Crawford.

For the first three seasons of this era, the Hawks were in rebuild mode, but each year won more games than the previous, showing consistent growth. By the 2007-2008 season, the Hawks made the playoffs for the first time since 1998 and faced the "big three" Boston Celtics, featuring Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. At the time, Boston was the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, while Atlanta was eighth and had several talented players who excelled mostly when playing at home. In this series, the Hawks won all three home games they had, but unfortunately, struggled while on the road in Boston, ultimately losing in seven games to the eventual Champions.

What people ultimately take away from this series is that the Atlanta Hawks were a scrappy team that would be around for years to come. Memorable performances included Joe Johnson's 35-point game four, Josh Smith's 27 points, nine rebounds, and six assists in game three, and game six ended with Johnson hitting a game-sealing three-pointer. Marvin Williams scored 18 points with a knee injury on limited minutes, with six Hawks players scoring in double digits to force a game seven in Boston.

Coming off this playoff run, the Hawks' players earned the respect of many people and were seen as a team to be reckoned with soon. The following season, 2008-09, the Hawks took some steps forward, finishing with a record of 47-35 and advancing to the second round of the playoffs after a memorable first-round series against the Miami Heat. The Hawks' record was good enough for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, four spots higher than the previous year's eighth seed.

Numerous events in the outside world overshadowed this series, but in terms of basketball, it is regarded as one of the more uneventful and confusing of the entire 2009 playoffs. Neither team won by less than double digits, and after gaining the lead, neither team was able to hold it. In game one, Smith went on an entertaining dunking spree, including powerful dunks, and finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Dwyane Wade and the Heat essentially dominated games two and three, as they blew out the Hawks by a combined 34 points in the two games. However, the Hawks would then go on to dominate Miami in Games 4 and 5. The final two games, however, saw a 41-point performance by Wade in Game Six and a close-out Game Seven in Atlanta, where Wade and Joe Johnson scored 31 and 27 points, respectively, which led to a runaway win for the Hawks early on.

The next series came the Hawks' kryptonite, Lebron James, who would, unfortunately, be the thorn in the Hawks' side for years to come. In the 2008-09 season, James would go on to win his first Most Valuable Player of the Year Award and go on a tear. The Cleveland Cavaliers went on to set the NBA record for consecutive playoff double-digit wins, reaching seven games in game three of this series. This entire series is ultimately remembered for James' dominance against a Hawks team that had no answer for him, and even saw James' True Shooting percentage reach over 65%, which is an elite level for the playoffs. As a result, he went on to average 33 points and lead the Cavaliers to a second series sweep that postseason.

Even though the 2008-09 season didn't end in the best-case scenario for the Hawks, they continued to push forward in the Joe Johnson era, reaching a peak in terms of winning 53 games, which was good enough for the third seed in the Eastern Conference in the 2009-10 season. In the regular season, the Hawks had a very efficient offense, finishing with the NBA's second-best offense in the entire league after adding the eventual Sixth Man of the Year winner, Jamal Crawford, to come off the bench. On defense, Josh Smith stepped up his play defensively and made the All-Defensive Team, as he finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting to Dwight Howard.

The Hawks entered the 2010 NBA Playoffs as a favorite for the second year in a row against a tough sixth seed in the Milwaukee Bucks. Some Memorable moments from that series include a game two victory in which the Hawks won 96-86, and saw Josh Smith have a dominant performance, scoring 21 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dishing out six assists, good enough for a double-double. After extending the series to 2-0, the Hawks went on a three-game losing streak against Milwaukee and eventually had to fight an uphill battle down 3-2 in the series. Jamal Crawford had a bounce-back performance off the bench in game six, where he scored a team-high 24 points, and Johnson scored 22 to lead all starters. In game seven, Crawford again saved the Hawks off the bench, as he scored 22 points to lead the team in scoring, where he closed the deal in a 95-74 victory.

In the second round for the second straight season, the Hawks again would be swept, but this time by the Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard, and the Southeast Division rival Orlando Magic. The series was lopsided from the start, as Orlando took game one by a decisive 43 points and never looked back, winning every game by 14 points or more. Specifically, game three was a 30-point blowout win in Atlanta. The Magic were hungry, coming off an NBA Finals appearance a year prior, where they had lost to the Lakers and were seeking redemption.

After the 2009-10 season, the Hawks would go on to make the playoffs two more times in this era, meeting Orlando again in the playoffs for the second straight season in 2010-11. The 2010 season, however, saw the Hawks remain relatively unchanged but also take a step back in certain aspects, marking the beginning of the end for this team. The Hawks would have two All-Stars in Al Horford and Joe Johnson for the second straight season together in the event, and would finish with the third seed again in the Eastern Conference, but this time with a regression to 44 wins. Johnson had also signed a six year, $123.7 million dollar contract with the Hawks on July 8, 2010 and was considered a " overpayment" at the time.

The Hawks began the playoffs in a series against the Magic, which they ultimately won in six games. However, that did not come without controversy, as they lost starting point guard Kirk Hinrich to a hamstring injury and started young point guard Jeff Teague, who began showing flashes of being the next guy up in Atlanta. After this series, Teague started the rest of his first stint with the Hawks, marking the beginning of a new era in Atlanta.

The next series began with the Hawks taking on the 2011 Most Valuable Player, Derrick Rose, and the Chicago Bulls. The Hawks had pulled off a shocking victory in game one of the series, upsetting the number one-seeded Bulls 103-95 with Joe Johnson scoring a team high 34 points, as well as Jamal Crawford leading the bench in scoring with 22 points.

Chicago's game one loss set the tone for the next few games, as the MVP Rose took over, scoring 27 and 44 points in games two and three, and took a commanding 2-1 series lead. The Hawks went on to win Game 4, but lost the next two against Chicago, as Rose exploded for 33 and 34 points in the final two games. The Hawks' offense, similar to their performance in previous series, struggled to find consistency against higher seeds in the second round of the playoffs. Even worse, game five saw the Bulls' bench go on a run to come back and win.

Entering the final season of the Johnson era, the Hawks had tried multiple times with this same core, as well as adding more pieces. They traded Jamal Crawford that summer to the Portland Trail Blazers and traded Mike Bibby midway through the 2011 season to the Washington Wizards. By this point, Johnson had turned 30 years old and hadn't made it past the semifinals yet with the Hawks. Even though it had seemed like they were primed for a breakthrough moment, it just never materialized.

The final season with Johnson in Atlanta ended with the Hawks finishing 40-26 in a shortened NBA Lockout Season and finishing with the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and their only All-Star being Johnson. The offense plummeted all the way down to 16th but they finished sixth in total defense in 2011-12 season and had a first round matchup with the Boston Celtics.

This series was surrounded by entertaining drama as the Hawks took the Celtics to six games. In Game 1, Rajon Rondo was ejected after arguing a loose-ball call with the official, leading to a Game 2 suspension and a Game 1 win for Atlanta. In Game 2, however, the Hawks blew an 11-point second-half lead as Paul Pierce turned back the clock for a Celtics comeback victory against the Hawks, scoring 36 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. In game three, Rondo returned and finished with a triple-double, scoring 17 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dishing out 12 assists, but the Hawks fought back into the game, forcing overtime on a 15-4 run, ultimately falling short.

In the summer of 2012, on July 11, Johnson was officially traded to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow, and Jordan Williams, along with DeShawn Stevenson (via a sign-and-trade agreement) and a future first-round pick (lottery-protected in 2013 via Houston). Josh Smith spent one last season with the team before leaving for Detroit in 2013, and the Hawks replaced him with All-Star Paul Millsap.

This era of Hawks basketball had its share of missed opportunities and flaws, from Johnson's controversial contract to Josh Smith's inability to become a consistent jump shooter. The offense stalled in the playoffs, and the team lacked a true superstar to get over the hump. Although it didn't end ideally, given playoff failures and players not taking the major leap forward anticipated, this laid the groundwork for the future of Hawks basketball and made many Hawks fans invested and loyal to the team.

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