1960–61 St. Louis Hawks season

Despite reaching the finals in 1960, owner Ben Kerner changed coaches during the off-season. Ed Macauley was replaced with Paul Seymour. On the court, rookie Lenny Wilkens was averaging 11.7 points per game in his first year. The brunt of the scoring came from the Hawks' front line of Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, and Clyde Lovellette. They combined for 72.0 points per game, and the Hawks won the West by 15 games. The Hawks finished the season with a record of 51–28. In the playoffs, the Hawks needed a 1-point overtime win in Game 6 on the road to force a 7th game with the Minneapolis Lakers. Game 7 was played in St. Louis and the Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers by 2 points. The Hawks were up against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. The Hawks fell in 5 games as the Celtics won their 4th NBA Title in 5 seasons.

The Hawks had a division semifinal bye.

(1) St. Louis Hawks vs. (2) Los Angeles Lakers: Hawks win series 4–3

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (1) St. Louis Hawks: Celtics win series 4–1