The Atlanta Hawks are back and ready to start the 2026-27 season, and what better way to know they\u2019re back than Media Day. It always feels like the first day of school, but it\u2019s the time when players all come together and share with the media and fans what\u2019s going through their minds ahead of the season.<\/p>\n
For the Hawks, they added some new players to the team who should be major contributors to their success, but they also have returning players who are looking to take another jump in their game.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the best sounds and bites from the Hawks during Media Day.<\/p>\n
What CJ McCollum is looking forward to in training camp<\/p>\n
\u201cI got traded in January. I got here, met the team on a road trip, and kind of jumped right into the season, which was difficult, but I think I\u2019m most excited about being able to go through a full training camp. We went through the season, lost in the postseason, and had the summer where we were all here on and off. Everybody was here pretty early in September. So, we\u2019ve been able to work out together, play some, and kind of hang around each other. I think that\u2019s important for camaraderie, trust, the ability to execute down the stretch, and then also accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onyeka Okongwu on the first time entering the season as the starting center<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the fact that they have a lot of confidence in me. I\u2019m excited for it. I\u2019m ready for the responsibility and I\u2019m ready to see how far this team can go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jock Landale on returning to the Hawks<\/p>\n
\u201cI took it on myself to get here as early as possible. I think I\u2019ve been around since July 5th. A lot of guys have been around and in the gym, I feel like we\u2019ve made some really good leeway in kind of building relationships with each other and just learning what it is to play Atlanta Hawks basketball. We\u2019ve got a long way to go given that it\u2019s still September, but I think we\u2019ve made some really good inroads to our own identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nickeil Alexander-Walker following up on his MIP season<\/p>\n
\u201cMy main focus out of that is to continue to grow as a player, to continue to get better, to maximize the opportunity and every single ounce of potential that I have left. Wherever that takes me, it takes me. I think that by doing that, it has proven over time that it just continues to get better. I don\u2019t stress the success more than I stress not continuously working and getting complacent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asa Newell and his playoff experience during Year 1<\/p>\n
\u201cYear 1 being in the playoffs just set the standard for this organization, and we\u2019re going to try to make the playoffs every single year. It was cool being in the environment of State Farm, being in the environment of New York, and going against the Knicks. It\u2019s extremely physical. The matchups, switching, the different lineups, it was really good, and I think that for our group it really helped us moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kingston Flemings going against Dyson, Nickeil and Lu<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been in OTAs already going at each other, so it\u2019s been good. They\u2019re all competitive. Being able to learn and being able to play against these guys, it\u2019s a dream come true. I\u2019m blessed to be on this team playing against guys like that every single day. I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron Wiggins bringing experience to the Hawks<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s championship pedigree and experience that I bring, but with that as a basketball player, there\u2019s competitiveness and just the motivation to win again that exists within me. I think bringing that energy is consistently contagious. I think amongst the team, everybody wants to win, and everybody wants to compete, and with that mindset, we\u2019ll all get better, and over time you\u2019ll see the team develop and get better with that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dyson Daniels working on his jump shot <\/p>\n
\u201dObviously, shooting was very bad last year for me, and it\u2019s been a focal point for me in this offseason. For me, it\u2019s been about the sequencing in my shot, getting more rhythm through my shot, and getting more energy through my legs so I can get my arc up. A big thing with me was it was a very flat shot, so trying to get more arc. That\u2019s been a big focus for me this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dorian Finney-Smith on what he can bring to the Hawks<\/p>\n
\u201cMy voice. I\u2019m very talkative on the court. I know a lot of young guys kind of think it\u2019s clich\u00e9, but the loudest team always wins. They\u2019re usually the most connected team. When you have to problem-solve on the court without a coach, that\u2019s what you need. You need your communication, and that\u2019s what I bring. I probably talk too much on the court, but I\u2019m a competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jalen Johnson reflecting on playoff loss<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was the first month and a half, two months after the season; all it was was film from that next series and just how I can learn and grow from that because, at the end of the day, I want to win championships. The playoffs are where you need to be at your best. Understanding that and having the right people around me who help me focus on what I need to focus on. You\u2019ve got to have the mental capacity to be able to want that for yourself and not be complacent. I want that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lu Dort is happy to be in Atlanta<\/p>\n
\u201cI already had some familiar faces on the roster, which was good with Nickeil and Wiggins, but just seeing the potential defensively with Dyson and JJ as well, and a lot of guys on the team, there\u2019s a lot of stuff that we can do. After I got the call, I was just really happy for that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Hawks are back and ready to start the 2026-27 season, and what better way to know…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":913995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[315419,49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-913994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-atlanta-hawks-preseason","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}