The 1966–67 NBA season was the Hawks' 18th season in the NBA as well as the 12th and penultimate season in St.
[1] After the Hawks extended the Western Division champions Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the 1966 playoffs, they entered the new season with reason for optimism.
But on Nov. 8, in the ninth game of the season, All-Star center Zelmo Beaty was injured early in a 135–121 victory against the Knicks in New York and sat out nine weeks as a result.
When Beaty returned in mid-January, the team had an 18–21 record and little if any hope to catch the upstart San Francisco Warriors in the division race.
The Hawks swept the expansion Chicago Bulls in three games in the first round of the playoffs before they were ousted by the Warriors in six games in the finals.