Hawks name Nate McMillan interim head coach

Nate McMillan (Wikimedia Commons)

According to Sam Quinn of CBS Sports on Monday, the Atlanta Hawks have made a coaching change. After a start of 14 wins and 20 losses, the Hawks decided to fire head coach Lloyd Pierce of San Jose, California, and replace him with Nate McMillan as their interim head coach.

McMillan was initially hired as the Hawks assistant coach on November 11, after he was fired as the Indiana Pacers head coach on August 26. He has now had 34 games to work closely with the Hawks franchise.  The initial goal is to figure out how to maximize the talent of the Hawks’ star player, point guard Trae Young of Lubbock, Texas, and Young’s supporting cast which includes John Collins, Clint Capela, Rajon Rondo, and Danilo Gallinari.

This will be McMillan’s 17th season as a NBA head coach. He has previously been with the Seattle Supersonics (2000 to 2005), and the Portland Trailblazers (2005 to 2012), in addition to the Pacers (2016 to 2020).

The criticism of McMillan over the years is that he has been an excellent regular season coach, but that success has not carried over to the postseason. He has a regular season record of 661 wins and 588 losses. He is 73 games above the .500 mark for a winning percentage of .529. However, his playoff record is only 17 wins and 36 losses, for an abysmal winning percentage of .321.

As a player, McMillan played 12 seasons with the Supersonics from 1986 to 1998. He averaged 5.9 points per game, 6.1 assists per game, and 4.0 rebounds per game. Known for his aggressive defense, McMillan led the NBA with three steals per game during the 1993-94 NBA regular season.

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