Bob Rathbun’s 25th season calling Atlanta Hawks games marked by change

When the Hawks tipped off in Chicago last week, beginning the franchise’s 53rd season in Atlanta, one element of the scene in the United Center manifested above any other.

The amount of change between this year’s opening day and the one in the 2019 season is immeasurable. Whether it be the bare-bones crowd and the funny-looking pieces of cloth on their faces muffling their cheers or the new players donning the brand new Atlanta threads, change was everywhere.

For Fox Sports South Broadcaster Bob Rathbun, though, this change may mean just a little more.

In a better, more ideal 2020 where the word “Corona” referred to a drink and “gaiters” only dwelled in swamps, Rathbun would have been in the United Center for opening night, preparing to kick off his 25th season as the voice of the Hawks. Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions have forbidden the veteran broadcaster and his crew from traveling to call away games.

So, Rathbun and his partner, Dominique Wilkins, will be forced to call all road games from their studio in Atlanta.

“Nique and I are having to do the games in the studio and that’s very different for us,” Rathbun said. “I’m a gym rat… I’m at practice every day. I’m at shoot-around every day. I’m at every game, every team dinner, you know, everything. To have that taken away because of COVID is very, very tough for me.”

He believes the same feelings will prove true for the players, who won’t be able to enjoy the normal opulences of road trips this season.

“I don’t think that being on the road this year is going to be a lot of fun. There’s going to be a lot of restrictions,” Rathbun said. “You’re not going to be able to go out of the hotel. The testing and the team dinners are going to be in empty restaurants. It’s going to be a very different experience traveling, which will be taxing on the guys.”

In a year with so much time for change and so little for the comfort zone, Rathbun sees young teams like Atlanta looking to some of its more established veterans to lead the way more than usual. One such player is Rajon Rondo, a 14-year veteran brought in this offseason to bump the average age up both in the locker room and on the court.

“Rondo will serve so many different roles,” Rathbun said. “Not only will he get it done on the court, but his voice as a real knowledgeable savant of the game is great for Trae (Young). It’s great for everybody in that locker room because these young guys have not really done anything yet in their careers other than aggregate statistics. It’s time for them to start winning and no better man to learn from than a two-time NBA champion.”

Last season, Atlanta finished the shortened regular season 20-47. The Hawks were 22nd in rebounding and were dead last in 3-point percentage despite attempting the eighth-most in the league. Rathbun expects offseason additions like Onyeka Okongwu, Bogdan Bogdanović, Tony Snell, Danilo Gallinari and Kris Dunn to fix those numbers and ultimately cause another kind of radical change between this and last year’s Atlanta teams: winning.

“You know, we had a boatload of money to spend and I think they spent it wisely,” Rathbun said. “You go get a guy like Gallinari, who is a world-class 3-point shooter, that’s going to make you better right off the bat. Then, you get into restricted free agency with Bogdanović, (he will) give the Hawks not only 3-point shooting, but also a lot of other things. He can rebound, he can handle a basketball, he can defend, so (he) was really a great pickup. Dunn, in particular, is a defensive wizard, so he’ll help with our ball pressure out front for sure.

“Snell is a 3 and D guy that can hit shots and play good defense on the wing, so we really do have a lot of weapons. I think Okongwu will fit nicely into the rotation, he’ll mix when he becomes healthy and has a chance to get into the system and learn a little bit about pro basketball.”

With so many new faces, the broadcaster believes it is imperative to not neglect the regular stars like Young, John Collins and Clint Capela. Between those three and second-year players Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter, the Hawks also return a lot of untapped potential.

Rathbun believes Young, Collins, Hunter and Reddish will be able to improve the team’s shooting woes while Capela will mend the rebounding mistakes.

“If (Hunter) can continue that kind of production, I think that’s one more guy that you’ve got in that starting lineup that can knock down a 3… I mean, we saw John Collins make a quantum leap in his 3-point shooting last year,” Rathbun said. “That will continue to expand and get better as he plays more and more with this group of people. Trae already has established himself as a great shooter, so I think you’ve got a lot of weapons. Cam is getting better and better every day not only from the 3-point line, but his defensive game is outstanding. The rebounding is already better and it will be better just because of Clint’s presence. John and the other guys are going to step up, too, but really the addition of Capela has changed our fortunes on the glass.”

With new and old talent piling up in Atlanta, Rathbun believes change will be more than obvious in the 2020-2021 season. Barring any season-derailing injuries, he believes the Hawks could accomplish something they haven’t done since 2017.

“You know, right now, I think if we can get to .500 and stay there, that would be a great leap forward for a team that was 27 games under .500 last year,” he said. “That would be a big leap. I think .500 in the East is going to get you comfortably in the playoffs, certainly in the play-in situation.”

As negative change continues to spread in 2020, Hawks fans can tune into Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast to watch some positive change in their beloved franchise.

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