Hawks fire Nate McMillan, will move forward with interim coach / News - Basketnews.com

Nate McMillan was dismissed by the Atlanta Hawks with 23 games left in the NBA regular season.

Credit: AP – Scanpix Credit AP – Scanpix

After finishing just four games above 50% under Nate McMillan a season ago, the Atlanta Hawks have fired their head coach. Assistant coach Joe Prunty will be taking over coaching duties for the final 23 games of the season.

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After spending one season as the team’s assistant, McMillan was promoted to the full-time role in 2020. He ended up leading the Hawks to a 99-80 record across parts of three seasons, including an 11-12 record in the playoffs.

Prunty does have 37 games of head coaching experience under his belt, coming with the Milwaukee Bucks back in 2017. He led the team to a 21-16 record after Jason Kidd was let go.

While Prunty is taking over on an interim basis, the Hawks are expected to begin their search for a long-term solution. ESPN's AndrewWojnarowski notes that the Hawks have four specific priorities in mind as they begin their quest.

Player development Accountability Getting the Hawks to a top-10 offense and defense

The Hawks are expected to cast a wide net in their search, with names like former Utah coach Quin Snyder anticipated being near the top of their list of candidates. A few others Woj mentioned were current Milwaukee assistant Charles Lee as well as Golden State’s assistant Kenny Atkinson, who used to coach the Brooklyn Nets.

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