The 2014–15 Atlanta Hawks season is still talked about all over Atlanta—from barbershops on Auburn Avenue to office break rooms in Buckhead. If you live in the city, moved here later, or are visiting and curious why locals light up when that team comes up, this guide walks you through what made that season special and how you can still feel its impact around Atlanta today.
For Atlanta sports fans, the 2014–15 Hawks were a turning point:
If you’re trying to understand Atlanta’s modern sports identity, this Hawks season is one of the key chapters.
Here’s a simple overview you can skim before diving deeper:
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Season | 2014–2015 NBA season |
| Regular Season Record | 60–22 (franchise record for wins) |
| Conference Finish | 1st in the Eastern Conference |
| Division | Southeast Division Champions |
| Head Coach | Mike Budenholzer |
| Core Starters | Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll |
| Notable Honor | 4 players made the NBA All-Star Game |
| Home Arena (at the time) | Philips Arena, 1 Philips Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30303 |
| Playoff Result | Reached Eastern Conference Finals |
The 2014–15 Hawks didn’t have a single “mega-superstar” in the LeBron or Curry mold. Instead, they were known for balance, ball movement, and depth. That’s part of why Atlanta fans connected so strongly—this team felt like a true collective.
If you go to State Farm Arena today, you’ll still hear older fans talk about how this starting five fit together so cleanly.
Head coach Mike Budenholzer, who came from the San Antonio Spurs system, brought a style that transformed how people in Atlanta thought about NBA basketball.
If you were at Philips Arena that season, you would have seen:
This was the year national media started calling Atlanta “Spurs East,” and locals took pride in how smart and organized their team looked on national TV.
Before 2014–15, the Hawks had some competitive years, but they were rarely considered among the league’s true contenders. That changed dramatically.
For people who worked or lived near Philips Arena, game nights became big city events—restaurants around Centennial Olympic Park and along Marietta Street filled up before and after home games, and the arena district felt electric.
In February 2015, the Hawks sent four players to the NBA All-Star Game:
For Atlanta fans, that was more than a fun fact; it was validation that team basketball and balance could get national respect.
The 2014–15 Hawks didn’t just have a strong regular season; they made a deep playoff run that shaped how Atlantans saw their team.
During that stretch, Philips Arena was packed, with downtown streets busier on game nights and MARTA trains pushing extra traffic to Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center Station (today’s GWCC/State Farm Arena/CNN Center station).
For locals, even those who weren’t hardcore basketball fans, it felt like “Atlanta is on the map.”
Although Philips Arena has since been renovated and rebranded as State Farm Arena, the 2014–15 season still lingers in the building’s culture and fan experience.
State Farm Arena
1 State Farm Dr
Atlanta, GA 30303
This is the same physical site where the 2014–15 Hawks played—updated and modernized.
If you’re visiting Atlanta and want to understand how important that 2014–15 team was, catching a game here is one of the best ways.
Beyond wins and losses, this season helped shift how the city relates to pro basketball.
For people who grew up in metro Atlanta, the 2014–15 Hawks helped:
Sports talk on local stations and at neighborhood bars leaned into NBA conversations more, thanks in large part to this team.
If you’re in Atlanta and want to connect with that era of Hawks basketball, here are practical options:
At the arena’s team store, you may find:
You can also find Hawks merchandise in major sporting goods stores around Atlanta, especially in areas like Cumberland, Perimeter, and Buckhead.
On big game nights, sports bars in Downtown, Midtown, Inman Park, and West Midtown often show Hawks games. It’s common to hear older fans compare the current team to the 2014–15 squad, especially when ball movement and defense look similar.
If you didn’t live in Atlanta during 2014–15 but want to understand why locals care so much about that team, here’s a simple approach:
When you’re at a Hawks game or local sports bar, mentioning the 2014–15 season is an easy way to connect with fans who have been following the team for a while.
For Atlanta, the 2014–15 Hawks season is remembered as:
If you live in Atlanta or are visiting and want to understand the city’s modern sports story, the 2014–15 Atlanta Hawks are a key chapter—one that still shapes how fans think about the team whenever they walk into State Farm Arena.
