Nate McMillan was fired as coach of the Atlanta Hawks after guiding the NBA club to a 29-30 start to the 2022-23 campaign, the team announced Wednesday (AEDT).
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Hawks general manager Landry Fields said assistant coach Joe Prunty would serve as the interim head coach.
“Decisions like these, especially in-season, are always extremely difficult, but we believe it’s in the best interest of our team to move forward with another voice leading the way,” Fields said.
McMillan finished with a 99-80 record as coach of the Hawks, having started as an interim coach after a mid-season firing in 2021 and guiding Atlanta to the Eastern Conference finals.
“I would like to thank Nate for his leadership and professionalism during his time with the Hawks,” Fields said.
“He’s truly a class act and we appreciate the graciousness and work ethic he brought.” McMillan, who played 12 NBA seasons as a guard for the Seattle SuperSonics, was in his 19th season as an NBA head coach after stops in Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta from 2001.
McMillan, an assistant coach on the US 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medal teams of NBA stars, has compiled a career NBA coaching record of 760-668.
McMillan was an assistant coach for the Hawks when Lloyd Pierce was fired and McMillan was named an interim head coach in March 2021.
The Hawks finished the campaign 27-11 under McMillan and advanced past the second round of the NBA playoffs for only the second time in 54 years, ousting New York and Philadelphia before falling to eventual champion Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference finals.
It was his deepest career playoff run as a coach.
MacMillan was rewarded by being named the new head coach in July but the Hawks lost to Miami in last year’s first round of the playoffs and had only struggled to eighth in the Eastern Conference standings at the All-Star Game break.
Prunty, 54, joined the Hawks as an assistant coach in July 2021. He had been an assistant NBA coach since 1996 except for two stints as an interim head coach for Milwaukee in which he went 29-25.
He was an assistant coach on three NBA championship clubs at San Antonio from 1999-2005.
The news of this coach sacking doesn’t necessarily come as a shock with McMillan and the Hawks expected to part ways in the off-season, but ownership and management reportedly decided to make the change now with time left to still salvage a playoff season and start pursuit of the franchise’s next coach, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“New general manager Landry Fields will begin pursuit of the franchise’s next coach as soon as Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT),” Wojnarowski wrote.
“… (Former Utah Jazz head coach Quinn) Snyder has history as a Hawks assistant coach under Mike Budenholzer, as do two more candidates expected to be part of the process: Milwaukee Bucks associate head coach Charles Lee and Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, sources said. Snyder… is expected to be at the top of several teams’ candidate lists this off-season.
“… Fields wants a coach who’ll improve the franchise’s player development and accountability and get the team moving toward the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rankings.”
Snyder, 56, would appear to be the clear frontrunner based on reports by both Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
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However one name that continues to be linked to the Atlanta head coach vacancy is former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka with his name trending on Twitter following the Hawks’ announcement.
Udoka, who guided the Boston Celtics to last season’s NBA Finals, was controversially suspended by his former employer back in September for the entire 2022-23 season for team conduct violations before the two parties later officially went their separate ways.
The 45-year-old Nigerian-American had a consensual relationship with a female member of the Celtics staff that broke the organisation’s guidelines and code of conduct, ESPN and The Athletic reported, citing unnamed sources.
The punishment is among the harshest ever issued an NBA head coach.
However the exact reporting of the situation was controversial and mysteries still surround exactly what went down.
This follows Udoka’s Boston coaching successor Joe Mazzulla and Celtic’s superstars Jason Taytum and Jaylen Brown’s recent praise of the team’s former head coach over the All-Star weekend.
“He didn’t have to keep me on when he was hired,” Mazzulla said after his promotion to permanent Celtics’ head coach was announced.
“He trusted people. I appreciated that. I’ve only ever worked for two people in the NBA, that’s Brad and Ime. If I didn’t have both of them, I wouldn’t be as comfortable in this situation as I am now.
“He just had a great poise about him. Even when things weren’t going well for us as a team, he never overreacted. He never wavered from who he was. He just did a great job staying even-keeled as far as where we were as a team. He was a players’ coach. He saw the game from a player’s perspective. That’s something that I needed to see. It really helped me navigate and generate relationship management.”
Jayson Tatum, who took his game to new heights under Udoka’s guidance last season, said he has spoken to Udoka a few times during the season while also signing his praises.
“Nothing crazy, just checking in. Telling me to keep up the good work,” Tatum said.
“It’s been a tough situation for everyone involved. Whatever happened, happened. That didn’t have anything to do with me. I can’t take away the relationship that me and him had. And the impact that he had on us last season. I love Coach K, I love Brad, I love (Mazzulla), I love all those guys. It’s just a different kind of relationship I had with Ime. He’s probably the most favourite coach I’ve had.”
Fellow Boston All-Star Jaylen Brown shared co-star Taytum’s sentiment.
“I want to see him back on his feet,” said Brown.
“I’ve said that before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t feel bad that I’m saying that. Obviously, it won’t be in a Boston uniform. Joe is upgraded to head coach now. I want to see all parties win. If the Celtics are doing fine, I want to see Ime (doing fine).”
Udoka replaced Brad Stevens last year after Stevens was promoted to president of basketball operations for the Celtics following the departure of Danny Ainge.
Udoka played seven seasons in the NBA, the last four with San Antonio before his playing career ended in 2011.
He had stints as an assistant coach with San Antonio, Philadelphia and Brooklyn before taking charge of the Celtics in June 2021.
Boston closed last season on a 28-7 run and rolled through the Eastern Conference to reach the NBA Finals last June for the first time since 2010.