Hawks’ team bus involved in accident after shootaround, team reports no injuries

Hawks’ team bus in accident, no injuries reported

MILWAUKEE — A car collided with the Atlanta Hawks’ bus as the team was leaving a shootaround session in downtown Milwaukee early Monday afternoon.

Team officials said nobody on board was injured, and a woman and young boy in the car also appeared to be OK.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson said the car’s brakes apparently went out before it turned a corner, and the driver couldn’t stop before hitting the bus.

Woodson, who was sitting near the front of the bus, saw the car coming and immediately tried to help after it hit.

“I jumped out and went over to the car and opened the door, and the little kid had climbed out of his car seat,” Woodson said before Monday night’s playoff game against the Milwaukee Bucks. “There was smoke coming from the airbags, so I grabbed the kid. And the mom, they got her out, and we gave the kid back.”

Woodson said the woman and the boy didn’t appear to be injured.

“It wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” Woodson said. “She was lucky, I think.”

Hawks spokesman Arthur Triche said the accident happened around 12:30 p.m. Monday as the team was leaving the Bradley Center. Triche says the side of the bus received “quite a jolt” in the accident.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the incident on its Web site Monday afternoon, displaying a photograph of a white car with significant front-end damage and a dent in the side of the bus.

Players took taxis back to the team hotel.

“Some of those guys in the back probably didn’t see it coming, but me being in the front, you could see where she had lost control,” Woodson said. “They got off the bus and saw the damage and we got them back to the hotel. Hopefully they’re ready to play.”

The Hawks play the Bucks in Game 4 of a first-round playoff series Monday night. Atlanta holds a 2-1 edge in the series.