The Atlanta Hawks held their annual media day on Monday as they began preparations for their 2016-17 season. With training camp starting on Tuesday, here are a few notes from Monday:

• Howard trying to take a leadership role: Center Dwight Howard, who signed with the Hawks in the offseason, has been active in touching base with his new teammates in a leadership capacity. “He has been reaching out to everybody,” Kyle Korver told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There is a team group text that sometimes I have to put my phone away. My phone is dinging all the time. My wife, I tell her sorry team chat. It’s usually led by Dwight. ‘Hi y’all. How are you doing today?’ And everyone is chiming in. I think the first process of leadership is building relationships and getting to know guys. He is doing that. He is really trying to do the right things for this team and that’s a great starting spot.” For his part, Howard seemed to say all the right things Monday: “A lot of the guys are super young and the great thing about that is these guys really listen,” Howard told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There are no egos on the team. Everybody is on the same page. We all want to win. That is the only thing that really matters. I’m excited. I can’t wait to get going. I think everybody on the team is excited. For me to be a leader, it’s just going out there and lead by example. Hold myself accountable, hold everybody else accountable, to the same standard.”

• Will Millsap (knee) be ready for opener?: All-Star Hawks power forward Paul Millsap would not shed any light on the non-surgical procedure he underwent on his right knee that will keep him sidelined for the first three weeks of training camp. He did say, however, that the knee “feels good right now” and that the procedure was necessitated by “constant swelling” during voluntary summer scrimmages.

10 behind-the-scenes photos from Media Day: https://t.co/hlPnUvgz3m

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— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) September 26, 2016