Atlanta Hawks

Hawks embracing Atlanta's vibrant hip hop community

Published Dec. 7, 2015 5:50 p.m. ET

foxsports

Atlanta rapper Jeezy was the star of the show when the Hawks played the Thunder on November 30.

He played the halftime show, after the game and the gift shop sold Jeezy t-shirts as well as his new album. In a recent post by The Guardian, writer Christina Lee contextualized the team's contentious history with the music genre. According to the report, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin embraces the way local Atlanta rappers have inspired pride in the city.

“I don’t look at the world through my prism,” said Koonin, in the report. “I look at it through my audience -- that’s one of the things TV taught me.”

Hard in the Paint: how the Atlanta Hawks learned to love hip-hop again https://t.co/LDyJICpMk7
— The Guardian (@guardian) December 7, 2015

Koonin has filmed a promo with rapper TI; 2Chainz, Ludacris, Rich Homie Quan and Big Boi [from Outkast] have performed during Atlanta's halftime shows.

“The day we had Big Boi, the walk-in price was $75 on StubHub and there were literally 3,000 tickets sold that day,” said Koonin.

(h/t The Guardian)