Atlanta Hawks news: Nate McMillian Fired

The Atlanta Hawks made some major NBA news on Tuesday. The Hawks fired their head coach, Nate McMillan. He joins Steve Nash as the only other coaching casualty so far this season in the NBA. McMillan went 27-11 during a pandemic-affected season, making the NBA’s conference finals. This season, he was 29-30 and when we last looked at the team, the Hawks had a win-total target of 41.5.

McMillan made some headlines earlier this season. Back in December, there were reports that he and Trae Young, who is Atlanta’s best player, had an argument. McMillan downplayed this argument, which had to do with Young not attending a game. However, you have to wonder if it hinted at some underlying issues that, in part, came to fruition with McMillan’s firing.

So far this season the Hawks have underachieved. They have a strong trio in their starting lineup with Young, Clint Capela, and Dejounte Murray. More was expected out of this team than a losing record at this point in the season. They have 23 games remaining in their schedule to try and make the playoffs. Over roughly the last month and a half, the Hawks have gone 10-8.

Atlanta Hawks: Recent Form Alert

• Formerly: 19 – 22 on January 12th, 2023
• Currently: 29 – 30 (overall)
• Recent form: 10 – 8 since January 12th, 2023
• Recent winning rate: 55.56%

When the Hawks come out of the All-Star break, they will have a four-game homestand against decent competition. It will be interesting to see if the change in coach is accompanied by a change in form. Joe Prunty is the interim coach and Quin Snyder, the former coach of the Utah Jazz, is thought to be a replacement candidate.

The Hawks remain a tough team to read. It’s never been clear how Young and Murray would feed off of one another. Now it’s not clear what the team’s coaching situation is as the home stretch of the NBA season nears.

Further reading: NBA Power Rankings