Editing Atlanta Hawks (section)

===1965–1976: Relocation to Atlanta===
Despite the success, Kerner became weary of the Hawks' longtime home, [[Kiel Auditorium]]. The 33-year-old arena seated only 10,000 and was starting to show its age. The Hawks occasionally played at the larger [[St. Louis Arena]], mostly against popular opponents, but Kerner was not willing to move the team there full-time because it had not been well-maintained since the 1940s. Even though it was being heavily renovated to accommodate the arrival of the [[National Hockey League]]'s (NHL) [[St. Louis Blues]] in 1967, Kerner was still not willing to move to the St. Louis Arena, because he wanted a new arena to increase revenue. However, Kerner was rebuffed by the city on several occasions. In early 1967, Kerner briefly put the Hawks up for sale.<ref name=hwqnfsl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NlZYAAAAIBAJ&pg=3360%2C376983 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Hawk quint is for sale |date=January 3, 1967 |page=14 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=January 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129121216/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NlZYAAAAIBAJ&pg=3360%2C376983 |url-status=live }}</ref> One of the bidders was a New Orleans group led by future talk show host [[Morton Downey Jr.]], but the deal collapsed and Kerner temporarily took his team off the market.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Beck|first1=Bill|title=Kerner Takes Hawks Off Market After 29-Day Period|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=February 1, 1967}}</ref><ref name=htoffmkt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7WRYAAAAIBAJ&pg=2102%2C164235 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Hawk team off market |date=February 1, 1967 |page=31 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=November 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120034918/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7WRYAAAAIBAJ&pg=2102%2C164235 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Unable to resolve the arena situation, on May 3, 1968, Kerner sold the Hawks to Atlanta real estate developer [[Tom Cousins]] and former [[Governor of Georgia|Georgia governor]] [[Carl Sanders]], which would be subject to league approval.<ref>https://newspaperarchive.com/phoenix-arizona-republic-may-04-1968-p-87/</ref> When the deal was approved, the new owners moved the team to [[Atlanta]] to begin play for the [[1968–69 Atlanta Hawks season|1968–69 season]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aiello|first1=Thomas|title='You're in the South Now, Brother': The Atlanta Hawks and Race, 1968-1970|journal=Georgia Historical Quarterly|date=2014|volume=98|issue=3|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aqh&AN=101380944&site=eds-live&scope=site|access-date=November 2, 2016}}</ref> While a new arena was being constructed, the team spent its first four seasons playing at [[Alexander Memorial Coliseum]] on the campus of [[Georgia Institute of Technology|Georgia Tech]], winning their first Division title in the [[1969–70 Atlanta Hawks season|1969–70 season]] with a {{winpct|48|34|record=y}} record in the Western Division. Cousins' firm soon developed the [[Omni Coliseum]], a 16,500-seat, state-of-the-art downtown Atlanta arena, for the Hawks and the expansion [[Atlanta Flames]] ice hockey franchise, which opened in [[1972–73 Atlanta Hawks season|1972]] as the first phase of a massive sports, office, hotel, and retail complex, most of which is now the [[CNN Center]]. Also in 1972, the Hawks debuted a new logo and new colors, trading the green and blue color scheme that the team had used for two years, in favor of white, gold, and red, the same colors the Flames used. The hawk head silhouette inside a circle remained as the team's logo, albeit simplified.

The years after the move showcased a talented Hawks team, including [[Pete Maravich]] and [[Lou Hudson]]. However, after this period of success, the team experienced some years of rebuilding. Despite appearing to be moving in the right direction when they ended up with the first and third picks overall in the [[1975 NBA draft]], the players selected with those two picks, [[David Thompson (basketball)|David Thompson]] of North Carolina State and [[Marvin Webster]] of Morgan State, both signed with the [[1975–76 Denver Nuggets season|Denver Nuggets]] of the [[American Basketball Association]] (ABA) and never played for the Hawks.