Links: BREAKING: Lang Signs With The Hawks…
…and immediately turns things around!
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of the Atlanta Hawks. There have been dalliances with other players and other franchises, but it always comes back to the Hawks. For better or worse. Mostly for worse.
A couple of months ago, the Hawks approached me and said they wanted to sign me to a one-year deal. They were looking for a fan to write a column for their official website, Hawks.com, and I was the only fan they could find.
OK, so it wasn’t quite like that. They wanted someone to write a weekly column for their official site, and, seeing as how I’m a Hawks fan and I’m a writer, they contacted me.
At first, I wasn’t sure if I should do it or not. I am, after all, supposed to be impartial at some level (a level deep down in the dark corners of my soul). But then I started thinking more about it, and I realized there’s never been any pretense with me where the Hawks (and a lot of other teams and players) are concerned. That’s one of the reasons I got into the game to begin with. I’d read newspaper stories by various writers and could easily find thinly-veiled references for and against teams and players, and it bothered me that these writers would hide behind a cloak of supposed impartiality. I didn’t want to be one of those writers, and hopefully I haven’t been.
I talked about it with Ben and we agreed that me writing for Hawks.com was probably a good look for SLAM, to get us more eyes and ears than we currently have. So I went back to the Hawks and told them I was in…on one condition: They had to fire Billy Knight.
No, really, I told them I just wanted to be honest. If I didn’t like the way a player was playing or how Mike Woodson was coaching, I wanted to be allowed to say so, right there on their official website. I figured that might be the deal-breaker, but to my surprise the Hawks said, Sure. They said that they wanted it to be real and authentic, which is what I wanted it to be, too.
So it’s on — I signed a contract and everything. Since number 21 is retired, I’ll take number 7, please, in honor of my second-favorite player, Kevin Johnson. And please give me the locker next to my man Josh Childress.
We announced all this yesterday on Hawks.com, where I was the guest on the Hawks BasketBlog Podcast (you can find it here). And every Wednesday, now through the end of the season, I’ll be writing something about the Hawks over at Hawks.com. Of course, I’m sure we’ll link to it from here, too.
Finally, and I pointed this out on the Podcast as well, but since I agreed to do this with the Hawks, the Hawks have the best record in the NBA (a 7-1 preseason record).
Could I have been the missing ingredient all along?
33 Responses to “Links: BREAKING: Lang Signs With The Hawks…”
Oct.30 at 11:30 am
white hot eboy says:
I think the next step Lang, will be getting the offer to be the Hawks play by play or color man. Good for you, Lang. Now all the Hawks fans who don’t read SLAM will see your greatness in action weekly. Another great day in the SLAM family.
Oct.30 at 11:35 am
neaorin says:
You could’ve tried the “fire Billy Knight” thing on them. They would’ve had to at least think about it, right?
Oct.30 at 11:36 am
Lang Whitaker says:
He’s got a little wiggle room, neaorin. For now.
Oct.30 at 11:36 am
MC Welk says:
Congrats, but they could really use James Lang.
Oct.30 at 11:37 am
jbn74sb says:
“Now all the Hawks fans who don’t read SLAM” - uh, such as? Hawks fans include Lang, Myung, and the former intern for The Sports Guy. That’s it - and presumably all read slam. However, the Hawks website will at least get some increased traffic from the linkstigators…
Oct.30 at 11:45 am
white hot eboy says:
I was going to use that joke, Bodie, but I figured someone else was going to go there. And there you are.
Oct.30 at 11:55 am
Russ Bengtson says:
What happened, Kevin Willis was busy on Tuesday nights?
Oct.30 at 12:29 pm
Lew B. Money says:
i smell a curse…
Oct.30 at 12:29 pm
Bryan says:
Good deal Lang. Look forward to reading it.
Oct.30 at 12:37 pm
Jared says:
haha russ…congrats lang, that’s awesome
Oct.30 at 12:38 pm
Jared says:
and the hawks could use james lang? yeah if he was playing against high school opposition…but nice drop welk
Oct.30 at 1:28 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
BREAKING NEWS: on the advice of new employee lang whitaker(not black) the hawks have signed ben handlogten to a 8 year contract.
Oct.30 at 1:52 pm
Kihwan says:
Congrats, Lang. Now let’s see if the Hawks REALLY let you say what you want about the team.
Oct.30 at 1:55 pm
Co Co says:
This is great news Lang. I hope your true thoughts survive editing.
Oct.30 at 2:07 pm
steve says:
That’s a good one, Cooper.
Oct.30 at 2:12 pm
jawn says:
Good to hear lang, sounds like a good thing for the hawks. WILL THIS MEAN A CRAP LOAD OF HAWKS STORIES FOR SLAM???? i hope so…
Oct.30 at 2:21 pm
Tariq says:
Lang, I feel what you said about that supposed impartiality that sportswriters hide behind. It’s even worse over here in Saudi Arabia, where no one connected to the sports media would even dare revealing the team they root for. I think I actually trust writers more when they’re open about their allegiances.
Oct.30 at 2:51 pm
Allenp says:
Why did people ever assume Lang was black? Off the top of your head, name two other black people you know named Lang? Lol.
Oct.30 at 3:04 pm
jbn74sb says:
Name two other people you know named Lang.
Oct.30 at 3:33 pm
Rubens says:
hey tariq, here in brazil it’s the same thing, and you’re right
Oct.30 at 4:09 pm
J says:
So you have Spirit of America or whatever in your corner?
Oct.30 at 4:28 pm
Chris O says:
Big ups Lang. How do you manage to keep up with all of this stuff? Speed? Here’s hoping ownership doesn’t get caught up in a legal battle with itself over your signing, leaving you in contractual limbo for weeks while they sort it out and try to fire each other.
Oct.30 at 4:50 pm
chronically_ill says:
Lang, congrats on your new gig. Now that you’ve joined the establishment, you have to convince the powers that be to change the hawks unis to the pacman unis of the 80s!
Oct.30 at 5:32 pm
Toney Blare says:
is there any chance this leads to a tv spot, Quite Lang-ly? Congrats, dude.
Oct.30 at 11:25 pm
Ben Osborne says:
Lang’s real name is Willie.
Oct.31 at 3:59 am
Danny says:
Hey Lang, would love to hear your thoughts on this team preview on SI.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/specials/preview/2007/enemy.lines/hawks.html
Might be a good way to get your column going — start a scrap with SI.
Oct.31 at 10:38 am
Lang Whitaker says:
I’m ready for TV, Toney! Let’s bring back SLAM Radio!
Oct.31 at 11:24 am
Myung says:
1. Congrats, Lang! This is great news. I’m really happy for you, and as someone who’s been down with you since 2002, I feel like a good friend of mine just got a promotion. If you ever need any game recaps, let me know (I’ll be at the Mavs, Suns, and Sonics games in November). 2. Bodie, there’s one more Hawks fan: Co Co. =) That makes 4 of us.
Oct.31 at 11:25 am
Myung says:
Wait, Lang isn’t black?
Oct.31 at 12:00 pm
Myung says:
“i smell a curse… ” Lew B Money, are you serious? A curse would only negatively affect a team that DOESN’T have the longest current playoff drought in the NBA. Or a laughingstock of an ownership group. Or a stubborn and smug GM. Or a head coach that’s best suited to be an assistant coach. Or a team that doesn’t have to give away its unprotected first round pick next June. The only curse Lang can “Madden” us with…is if the Hawks are demoted to the D League or are magically transformed into our new WNBA franchise.
Oct.31 at 1:40 pm
Mendel says:
Great, the Links hust got that much worse
Oct.31 at 2:34 pm
CoolWhip11 says:
Ouch, tough break Lang. It ain’t easy watching the Hawks casually as a fan, I can’t imagine how crappy it would be for that to be your JOB!
Oct.31 at 4:02 pm
Silky Slim says:
BREAKING: Lang squawks for the Hawks!