A major criticism from outside Atlanta is that the Hawks haven’t had a “superstar” or, more importantly, a closer to win games. Has that finally changed?

Whether the Atlanta Hawks have won 40 games, 50 games, or 60 games; the team has never been considered true title contenders.

The franchise owns an East Conference best nine playoff appearances in a row streak (unless we count LeBron James as a franchise), but have never been picked to go to the Finals. Time and time again, pundits have attributed this to the team’s lack of a “closer”.

What is a closer? While fans’ definitions can vary, we can generally say its a player who you’re confident will win the game with the ball in his hands as the clock winds down. Going around the league, many closers can be identified. Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Jimmy Butler are a few good examples.

You may notice that some names like LeBron, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant are missing from that group. Let it be noted you don’t have to be the best player on the team to be a closer. That’s important for the following argument.

The Hawks have been trying to find that player with the clutch gene since the Highlight Factory era, to no real avail. Lou Williams was probably the closest, but the hot and cold play he brought made him unreliable.

The search has also led to a low key love affair for Rudy Gay that fans know all about. Sadly, that star crossed romance has never come to fruition.

However, as these surging Hawks have come to show, the team may have accidentally found that elusive closer (or three).