The home opener for the Hawks also marked the opening of the Sekou Smith Media Room, the press work area at State Farm Arena dedicated to the memory of the beloved journalist, who died Jan. 26.

In loving memory, introducing the Sekou Smith Media Room ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BUrBLkYSBB

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 21, 2021

Smith was a senior reporter at NBA.com, and previously a Hawks beat reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as a constant presence around the franchise as well as the NBA for the last few decades.

There were 20 family members in attendance for Thursday’s game with the Mavericks, including his wife, two sons and daughter, invited by the organization and recognized during the game.

The media room is adorned with photos of Smith while working both at State Farm Arena and also inside the NBA TV studios, where he was a regular commentator during game nights.

Garin Narain, the Hawks’ senior vice president for communications, said: “We wanted to do it right for him.”

This is so awesome. Miss him every day. Hawks dedicate media room to Sekou Smith https://t.co/KI7XvY44yE

— Michael C. Wright (@mikecwright) October 21, 2021

Great job by the Hawks.
RIP, Sekou. https://t.co/eMj04w3ccS

— Steve Aschburner (@AschNBA) October 21, 2021

Sekou Smith Media Room 🕊 pic.twitter.com/lhHh6zd972

— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) October 22, 2021

Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.