Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Pope Francis is the reason the 2020-21 Atlanta Hawks will become NBA Champions.
Pope Francis was such a fan of the Atlanta Hawks‘ MLK City jersey he received, he blessed the uniform. So naturally, all of Atlanta sports fans are celebrating and panicking simultaneously.
It would be so Atlanta sports if the Hawks are the first one of the longest-tenured teams to win a championship this century. Back in 2018, Atlanta United FC won MLS Cup in their second year of existence. The only other league championship Atlanta can claim is the 1995 World Series won by the Atlanta Braves. Are the Hawks next? Better yet, will divine intervention intervene in The ATL?
Somehow, this blessing is not going to go well for the Hawks or Atlanta sports
Few metropolises are as sports cursed as the great city of Atlanta. A city known for blowing leads that were thought to be unblowable, Atlanta has a reputation to uphold. Not even a blessing from the Pope himself can save this long-suffering basketball franchise from their saddest fate. Atlanta may be the home of Martin Luther King Jr., but it is also the home of the team who gave us 28-3.
So what does this blessing from Pope Francis even mean? He is clearly a fan of what Dr. King did back in the 1960s as a part of the Civil Rights Movement. As for if he is a Hawks, well, that would be news to us. If he is the one to rid the city of Atlanta of all its sports heartache and pain, expect every Southern Baptist or non-believer to go to mass on Sunday. Catholicism wins big here.
The Hawks have either been blessed or they will suffer the same fate for another 50 years.