The Atlanta Hawks have fired head coach Nate McMillan, the team announced Tuesday.
Joe Prunty will serve as interim head coach. Prunty joined the Hawks in July 2021 as lead assistant and served as interim head coach for the Bucks in the 2017-18 season and in 2015-16.
Currently, the Hawks are a disappointing 29-30 record(8th in the Eastern Conference).
McMillan, 58, became the team’s interim head coach in the second half of the 2020-21 season after replacing Lloyd Pierce and led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals that season, and he was named the team’s permanent head coach that summer after signing a four-year deal.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, McMillan, and the Hawks were expected to part in the offseason, and the team is interested in former Jazz head coach Quin Snyder.
“I would like to thank Nate for his leadership and professionalism during his time with the Hawks,” Hawks GM Landry Fields said in a statement. “He is truly a class act, and we appreciate the graciousness and work ethic he brought with him every day. 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.”
Over 19 seasons as a head coach, McMillan has compiled a 760-668 record (.532) with the Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers, and Hawks. His 760 wins rank 18th on the all-time wins list for NBA coaches.
In December, Hawks President of Basketball Operations Travis Schlenk stepped down and took an advisory role with the team. In January, Kyle Korver was promoted to assistant general manager, and now, they make a coaching move.
