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A Finger Wag, From the Rafters

lethalweapon3

By lethalweapon3
in Homecourt

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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Two first-class men.

 

 

 

~lw3

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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Great for Koonin to spring this on Dikembe Mutombo Day here in Fulton County.

 

 

~lw3

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capstone21 Mentor

capstone21

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I wonder if our criteria to retire a jersey has dropped (if you just play for the Celtics you get your number retired) ... He put up some nice numbers but played here for 4 and a half seasons.   I don't have a problem with it being retired but compared to Nique/Petit and Lou he didn't play here long and he is not even identified with the team.

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My first reaction was something to the effect of "4 years just for weed?!?" Then a shrug, I guess Bud ain't the old dog like Danny and learned some new tricks.

The Hawks have banners for the freaking LEED Certification and Widespread Panic selling out shows. I don't think there's any "sanctity" of retiring this stuff. And if people don't riot over those then they sure as hell won't riot over Deke, who was well liked (but clearly not as well liked as Zaza, *hint*)

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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While his time here was limited (through no fault of his own), he does lead the franchise in per-game blocks and (Atlanta-era) per-game rebounds, as well as rebounding percentage (edit: and defensive rating, and win shares per-48).

 

He played all of 38 more regular-season games for the Nuggets, and (thanks to our timely trade) 5 more playoff games for the 76ers. The only team he played more seasons for was the Rockets, and that tenure began when he was 38 years of age.

 

There's no player rep in the rafters for the black-and-faded-red 90s yet (Smitty may get up there eventually, too, although not before Kevin Willis and Tree; Mookie screwed up his chances post-career), and Deke helped carry us our slow trudge through the Damn-We-Traded-Nique era. Their playoff glories weren't much to write home about, but it was the best we had here in Atlanta for nearly a decade. There wasn't much that qualified as a lasting memory of that era (Mookie's dribbles/steals/three-jacking?) but Deke's finger-wag on one of the dominant defensive teams of the decade certainly was.

 

Until Jamal Crawford's cup-of-tea, Deke was the last Hawks player to be honored with an end-of-season performance award. And my memory fails me, but was he the first clear All-Star-quality talent who voluntarily came to Atlanta as a free agent?

 

I think his off-court actions tip the scales favorably in his case. Particularly that his international functions (for CARE USA during his playing years, and his foundation now) were based here and have remained here long after his NBA career took him away from Atlanta.

 

~lw3

Edited by lethalweapon3
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macdaddy Grand Master

macdaddy

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I'm fine with it but it is a little strange.  I think the fact that he made the HOF is the tipping point.   I think Willis is probably more deserving as a Hawk but obviously not as big a player in the league.  Willis was here 11 years.    I think of Smitty as a big time player for us, and he was, but if you retire Smitty's number then you have to add Joe and Tree for sure.  

 

Frankly, I wish we'd retire Dan Roundfield's number.  He was an all star and helluva a player and guy.  And tragically died while saving his wife's life.  

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Plainview1981 Mentor

Plainview1981

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Deke doesnt even claim us these days and thats my only issue with this. Maybe we expect him to pull a Deion Sanders and hoo back on our bandwagon if we just stroke his ego enough with this honor

 

As much as I like Deke... This is true. He doesn't love the team and the fans as much as they do him.

 

That said, it always felt to me like he played here longer than he did. 

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macdaddy Grand Master

macdaddy

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Deke is prominently sitting on the first rows of Philips Arena for both Hawks and Dream games. By default, he's True to Atlanta more than anywhere else he's been.

 

~lw3

 

I think that's true but he was repping the nuggets this summer in Africa which surprised me.  Apparently they are retiring his number too so he may have known that at the time

 

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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dikembe.jpg

 

While he was most known for this scene in 1994, after a seemingly-monumental upset of Seattle, this was the only time Mutombo was a winner of a playoff series as a Nugget.

 

Dikembe won two playoff series (both times against the Pistons) as a member of the Hawks in 1997 and 1999, the latter being the last playoff series victory by any Atlanta Hawks team until Joe and Company beat the heat one decade later, in 2009. At roughly a month from reaching age 33, Deke led NBA Playoff participants in 1999 with 13.1 RPG.

 

~lw3

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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Here's a serious troll question:

Widespread Panic has sold out Philips Arena 20 straight times. How many times has Deke ever done that?!?

 

Heck, Deke packed the Omni/Dome... every time the Bulls, Lakers, and Knicks paid a visit! lol

 

~lw3

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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Didn't he play in a rockets jersey during the Africa-game this summer?

 

Nuggets, as @macdaddy noted above, although I doubt that qualifies as a Madduxian offense.

 

Plus, it wasn't even the version of the 90s jersey he won in the playoffs with. I think all 1990s jerseys have been banned by the league, just because.

 

~lw3

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