The NBA may be in All-Star Break mode, but that doesn’t mean the breaking news stops. The proof this Tuesday evening, where the Hawks simply decided to cut ties with their coach Nate McMillan.
We knew that McMillan’s future in Atlanta was very uncertain, but we expected him to at least finish the season. Finally, the Falcons felt that it might not last any longer and therefore fired their coach if we are to believe Adrian Wojnarowski.ESPN.
WOW HAWKS CLEARING NATE MCMILLAN! https://t.co/VGM6PrrzmW
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) February 21, 2023
The news comes two days before the regular season resumes, currently on hiatus following All-Star Weekend festivities. She also falls at a time when the Hawks are displaying a disappointing record of 29 wins for 30 losses (synonymous with 8th place in the Eastern Conference), they who mismanaged their last deadlines (6 losses in the last 10 games) before the small mid-season break. And finally, it falls following the many turbulences that characterized the Atlanta franchise’s 2022-23 campaign.
As a reminder, there were quite a few backstage upheavals in recent weeks, between the takeover of Landry Fields as president of basketball operations (replacing Travis Schlenk), the promotion of Kyle Korver as assistant general manager, and the increasingly important place occupied by Nick Ressler ( son of owner Tony Ressler). Hello instability, instability also characterized by tensions between local star Trae Young and coach Nate McMillan. All this put together, several speculations suggested at the end of December that McMillan might potentially resign. Eventually, he won’t need it.
The question that now arises is obviously who will be his successor. What we know at the time of these lines is that the assistant Joe Prunty will take over while waiting for a new coach. But the Hawks will be aggressive to find a new strongman as soon as possible, they who would target names like Quin Snyder (former Jazz coach) and Kenny Atkinson (former Nets coach, Warriors assistant).
ESPN Sources: The Hawks are planning a wide-ranging search, but one candidate expected to be at the top of the list: Former Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder. Others expected to be considered include Bucks assistant Charles Lee, Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 21, 2023
Source texte : ESPN
