Hawks History with Stinger: Dan Roundfield

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Recently a Hawks’ fan approached a tall and distinguished traveler at Hartsfield Jackson Airport and asked him, “Didn’t you used to be Dan Roundfield?” The former all-star power forward, who helped to popularize and solidify Hawks’ basketball as a cornerstone of Atlanta’s cultural structure, simply nodded his head and said, “Yes, I used to be him.” Well, he is still Dan Roundfield and still makes appearances at Atlanta Hawks’ games, but this time he and his wife Bernie are cheering for their favorite team and sharing the experience with their grandsons, Caden four years old and Cabot two.

It was not so long ago, 1978, that the city of Atlanta and the surrounding basketball community was excited by the signing of the missing link that would establish the Atlanta Hawks as one of the NBA’s most respected teams. Dan Roundfield elevated the Hawks and basketball in the South. In the 1977-78 season a young Hawks’ team scrapped their way to a 41-41 record behind the scoring of John Drew and outstanding play of two promising rookies named Eddie Johnson and Wayne “Tree” Rollins. The power forward that the organization craved decided to come to Atlanta.

Atlanta was not Roundfield’s first choice. Organizations with longer histories of success and bigger fan bases had also made their offers. The Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers were at the top of his list. Providence and his parents intervened. Dan Roundfield had been born and raised in Detroit and had reservations concerning the South and its infamous discriminatory history. His parents played a major role in his decision; both had been born and raised in Augusta, Georgia. They reassured him that life would be fine in Atlanta.
Read More: http://www.nba.com/hawks/feature/stinger_120809.html