No. 4 Atlanta Hawks

The son of an Indianapolis cardiologist , forward Alan Henderson earned a degree in biology at Indiana and has aspirations of also becoming a doctor. But all of the family's scientific expertise did him little good last November, when he spent 10 days in an Atlanta hospital with a mysterious illness whose symptoms included fever, diarrhea, vomiting and severe stomach pain. After losing 20 pounds, the 6'9" Henderson was flown to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for further evaluation. Doctors there confirmed that he had acute viral pancreatitis.

After a promising rookie season in which he averaged 6.4 points and 4.5 rebounds off the Hawks' bench, Henderson had been counted on as a key reserve. But in late November he was convalescing in Indianapolis, and he wasn't strong enough to be activated until Feb. 15. He got off to a fast start, scoring a total of 24 points off the bench in his first two games, but coach Lenny Wilkens felt he was struggling. Henderson, still under his 235-pound playing weight of 1995-96, appeared sporadically down the stretch and could muster only 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds a game during the playoffs, from which the Hawks were eliminated by the Bulls in the second round.

This year Atlanta will have former or current All-Stars at three starting positions: Dikembe Mutombo at center, Christian Laettner at power forward and Mookie Blaylock at the point as well as Steve Smith at shooting guard. Veteran Tyrone Corbin again will hold down the small forward spot only because the team failed to sign Chris Mills or Rick Fox during the off-season. But it's a healthy Henderson who may hold the key to the season as Atlanta's sixth man. "Nobody's happy coming off the bench," Henderson says, "but we've got All-Stars at the four and five spots [Laettner and Mutombo, respectively]. I just have to learn and keep working and hope I get my chance to start."

Over the summer Henderson hit the weights hard and is back up to 235 pounds. He'll mainly spell Laettner at power forward, though he also can fill in at center or at small forward if necessary. There will be times, too, when Henderson will play alongside Laettner up front with Smith at small forward, making the Hawks a lot less intimidating but quicker and more versatile. "Alan just knows how to play," says Blaylock, "and he's real active."

Henderson ripped the Raptors for 21 points and eight rebounds during an exhibition game on Oct. 16 and seems ready for an expanded role. He'll need to play a lot of minutes to cover for a weak second unit, which includes well-traveled frontcourt players Chucky Brown and Greg Anderson, and 6'3", 210-pound rookie guard Ed Gray out of California, whom Wilkens doesn't expect to make an impact until midseason.

Atlanta will play its home games in the Georgia Dome and at Georgia Tech while its new downtown arena is under construction. The dome, which seats 21,570 for most games but can be expanded to 34,821 for big draws like the Bulls, is likely to feel desolate: The Hawks averaged 14,288 a game at the Omni last season, third worst in the league, even though they were well worth watching with the shot-swatting Mutombo in the middle. Stifled in the offensive scheme at Denver for five years, he has improved his post-up moves dramatically. "Last year I was a total player again, involved in the offense, not a stick of furniture," Mutombo says. "I worked on my game so my hook shot is better, and so is my jump shot—if Lenny will let me shoot it."

Smith, always a dangerous shooter, has bulked up and should be able to go to the hoop more effectively. "Watch out now," he says. Laettner, who wore down badly last season and failed to do much over the summer to increase his upper-body strength, should benefit the most from Henderson's full recovery. Says Wilkens, "No question in my mind we're a better team, and one of the reasons is that Alan Henderson is healthy."

Henderson feels that the Hawks can contend with anyone, including those guys in Chicago. "Last year was the first year for all of us together," he says. "We got a taste of success, and now we want to take it over the hump."

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