Less than two years removed from leading the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals, head coach Nate McMillan has been fired.
The Hawks announced Tuesday that they were parting ways with McMillan and would be beginning an expansive search for a replacement effective immediately. In the meantime, assistant coach Joe Prunty will act as interim head coach until a permanent hire is announced.
Despite posting a 99-80 record with the club, and reaching the playoffs in both full seasons at the helm, McMillan’s vision for the team seemed to cause friction with certain players in the locker room. This apparently came to a head in December of 2022 when Trae Young skipped a game vs. the Denver Nuggets as a result of a “miscommunication” with his coach.
While both parties attempted to brush the matter off in the media, it was clear that Young and McMillan weren’t seeing eye to eye on a number of issues. This, coupled with the team’s struggles to integrate newly acquired guard Dejounte Murray into their system are the primary causes for the clubs poor record to date.
Currently sitting at 29-30 on the season and coming off back to back losses to the Knicks and Hornets, Atlanta is in danger of falling out of the playoff picture altogether in the crowded Eastern Conference.
It was widely speculated that the Hawks would explore new options in the offseason given the lack of on-court success and recent troubles between Young and their bench boss. However it appears as though new GM Landry Fields had seen enough and felt that a new voice was needed inside Statefarm Arena.
That new voice could be one that NBA fans are already familiar with, as former Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder is rumoured to be the frontrunner for the now vacant position.
Also reported to be on the franchise’s shortlist of candidates is Bucks assistant Charles Lee and Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson. Snyder however has existing ties to the Hawks having served as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer from 2013-2014.
Atlanta is next in action on Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.