On the Hardwood: Atlanta Hawks Honor Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in First of Season-Long Unity Nights' These theme nights are centered around community, positive social change By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Monday, January 18, 2021 - 9:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The doldrums of 2020 may be in the past, but 2021 is still presenting challenges to in-venue production teams. Now out of the Orlando bubble, NBA organizations are hosting games in their home arenas and navigating the continuing difficulties of the pandemic. Like SVG's At the Ballpark and On the Gridiron series, On the Hardwood will take a look the hardships, creative ideas, and teamwork of NBA franchises.
The Hawks have ramped up their videoboard content since the start of the season.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s passion for Civil Rights and racial equality has become a beacon of perseverance and hope around the world, but in Atlanta, he means so much more than that. The Atlanta Hawks are celebrating MLK Day with the first of many Unity Nights that spotlight the true meaning of community, love of thy neighbor, and the character of the city's most venerated icon.
This year's MLK game will be celebrated differently at State Farm Arena due to the COVID world we're all living in, but because of the MLK jersey and court, we feel like this is the most meaningful tribute to his honor that we've ever done here in Atlanta, says Joe Abercrombie, SVP, live entertainment and production, Atlanta Hawks. It's truly something special, and we can't wait for our fans and the nation to see both in action.
MORE ON THE HARDWOOD INTERVIEWS:
Denver Nuggets Repurpose RSN Broadcast With Some In-Venue Flavor
Celebrating the City's Roots: Unity Nights To Feature MLK-Themed Content Martin Luther King Jr. is always on the mind of the citizens of Atlanta, but the Hawks made it a point to highlight the activist's impact on the city during the offseason. When the team unveiled its new MLK City Edition uniforms, it was the first time that an individual's initials were stitched on an official on-court jersey. As the team debuts these uniforms, the production team is taking this theme an extra step further by placing MLK at the center of tonight's MLK Day Game Presented by Chase.
We'll have a special MLK open video that we'll use, says Drew Frank, manager, game operations, Atlanta Hawks. During each of these different games, we'll have some vignettes where the players will talk about MLK's impact on them personally and also on the world.
Plexiglass dividers have been installed in the control room.
Producing these live and prepackaged segments have come with its fair share of challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to restrictions on who is allowed into the building - full-time staff and friends/family of players are permitted - the crew is getting creative by capturing some of these traditions digitally, including the singing of the National Anthem and starting lineup by a choir.
In a COVID world, we're trying to adjust while maintaining some of the same traditions that we've done in the past, says Andre Hickman, director of live programming, Atlanta Hawks. In the past, they've rehearsed the players' names since we normally don't get the starting lineup until 15 minutes before the game. This year, we'll record them saying their names, and when we get the starting lineup, we'll take clips and marry them in real time to the music that's playing in the background. This is the first time that we'll doing it in this manner, but we have a plan to executing this correctly.
Aside from these production staples, the in-venue experience and content shown on the linear broadcast is drawing inspiration from the City Edition jerseys and court. Developed by Vice President of Brand Creative Shirley Zhang and her team, the stained-glass illustrated on both the jersey and court will lead the aesthetic look of the on-air and videoboard content.
The design of the court and uniforms are really instrumental to how we're framing our look and feel for these Unity Night games, continues Hickman. We're taking those elements of stained-glass and the MLK lettering to bring the arena to life.
At-Home Connection: Franchise Aims to Produce Pregame Live Stream KK Salmonsen (left) and a fellow operator handle crowd noise.
While at home, the Hawks made an effort to interact with their fans during the 2020 NBA Draft with a live streamed virtual Draft party back in November. Since these fans are still watching games on their television sets, the organization is looking to up this connection by continuously working with their television partners, including Fox Sports Southeast, and digital team to live stream a pregame show from the arena.
For a long time, the NBA has said that teams can do some pregame live streaming while the players are on the court, says Abercrombie. We've wanted to take advantage of that for a while, and I think this is the opportunity to do it.
Along with the videoboard show and surrounding content, this live stream could be another chance to spread the message of MLK and highlight the jerseys that the players are wearing on the floor. With fans stuck in their living rooms, it could also be used to bring the complete fan experience back home since they're deprived of those pregame festivities.
We'll be able to focus [the pregame] around our Unity Nights with the MLK jerseys and court, he adds. I don't think that we're going to be doing a lot of in-game live streams, but as far as a pregame show, we are definitely working towards doing that.
In-Venue Audio: Developing the Fabricated Soundscape Frank, in the Hawks mask, works from his courtside position.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
On the Hardwood: Atlanta Hawks Honor Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in First of Season-Long Unity Nights' These theme nights are centered around community, positive social change By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
