what I captured so far....
Announcer- “Glorious day in Atlanta Hawks history”
Michael Garren- who said the hawks cant be exciting and interesting in Aug…this is a great day, Joe, welcome to Atlanta….thank you to Billy Knight for overhauling the roster, we will be exciting for years to come…
Another owner…welcome to Joe Johnson, glad to be up on the stage with Joe.
Coach….welcome to everyone for coming up, we need the fan support in the worst way…this day is about Joe Johnson and his family, excited to coach Joe Johnson, this day is about Joe Johnson….welcome and proud to have you here…
Billy Knight- thanks to everyone for being here, I would like to thank the ownership group for supporting me personally and professionally, thanks for the support …..supported me from the day I walked in here, I appreciate that …..I think that I try to spend every moment of everyday working on putting a team together and moving forward, that’s my hobby and that’s what I do…obviously this is an important day for our franchise, Joe exemplifies everything we want to be as a team, he is everything we want to exemplify as a team going forward, appreciate his patience and his agent’s patience, I appreciate the Phx Suns staying with us on this deal, all of these things are important, it could have gone differently…appreciates Joe’s confidence in him to get the job done, Joe has shown a lot of confidence in them because he could have gone anywhere….
Joe- Thanks to everyone for coming out today, I want to thank Billy Knight, coach and the rest of the owners…. had a great time in Phx, but now is the time for me to move on…closer to home and family,,,will be a lot of fun and looking forward to it……
Announcer then introduced Joe’s family and friends,…..clapping.
Questions….
Q- At what point in this process when did you realize you would be here?
Joe- talked to Billy a few times this summer, knew it would happen.
Q- Did you get discouraged at all with the process
Joe- No, kept in contact with me and let me know everything will be okay..
Q- Why the Hawks?
Joe- Good start for me, we have a lot of young guys…wanted to start over again.
Q- What was it that you saw in Joe that made you want to have him?
Billy- Versatile b-ball player, important to our team…Joe can play more than 2 positions, 3 or 4 positions…Joe can handle the ball and make plays