NBA: Atlanta Hawks ‘fire head coach Nate McMillan, with assistant Joe Prunty to take over’
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Atlanta Hawks ‘fire head coach Nate McMillan, with assistant Joe Prunty to take over’ as eight-place team, team sits under .500 and eighth in Eastern Conference
Nate McMillan has reportedly been fired from his position as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks.
According ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowskithe Hawks are firing the second-year head coach with the franchise currently under .500 (29-30).
According to the report, assistant Joe Prunty will take over the eighth-place Hawks on an interim basis.
Wojnarowski also commented the Hawks will be looking far and wide for their next coach. Former Utah coach Quin Snyder is expected to be at the top of the list, while Milwaukee and Golden State assistants Charles Lee and Kenny Atkinson are likely in the mix.
In late December, McMillan denied a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania that he was considering resigning.
“I’ve never spoken to that reporter before,” McMillan said at the time. “I think in the last two weeks he’s written a couple of articles with some sources in our organization that are making some comments about me.”
Nate McMillan has reportedly been fired from his position as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks.
Head assistant coach Joe Prunty (C) is said to take over as Atlanta’s interim head coach
‘At the end of the year I will do what I have always done. At the end of the season I’ll talk to my family and see if I still have that flame, that fire to continue next season, but that’s at the end of the season.
It’s been a turbulent year for the Hawks amid reports of chemistry issues within the locker room. Team president Travis Schlenk also resigned and assumed an advisory role in December.
McMillan had a disagreement with star Trae Young in early December, which resulted in Young staying home instead of suiting up for December 2 against the Nuggets.
“I mean, it was just a situation,” Young told reporters in December. ‘I mean, we’re all grown men here and there are some times we don’t always agree. And it is unfortunate that private situations and private conversations became public. But I guess that’s the world we live in now.
“But yeah, I’ll just focus on basketball and focus on helping my team win.” And that’s what I have to focus on.
Atlanta had entered this season expecting to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference after finishing in sixth place last year, before winning just one game in the postseason and being eliminated by the Miami Heat.
The organization also made a trade for All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray this summer, raising hopes.
Murray’s father criticized the team after a 130-114 loss to the Lakers in January.
In 2020-21, McMillan led the Hawks to the team’s first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2014.
Prunty, 54, is a veteran NBA assistant coach, having served as head coach of the Great Britain national team from 2013 to 2019.
McMillan had a disagreement with star Trae Young in early December, which resulted in Young staying home instead of suiting up for December 2 against the Nuggets.