Nate McMillan Fired by Hawks After 29-30 Start; Joe Prunty Named Interim HC

Nate McMillan's time as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks is over.

Atlanta announced it fired its head coach after a 29-30 start to the season. Assistant coach Joe Prunty will serve as the interim coach the rest of the way for a team that is still fighting for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Hawks plan to immediately start their search for McMillan's permanent replacement and noted former Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Charles Lee and Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson could be considered.

This move comes after the Hawks made headlines in December when Trae Young missed a game against the Denver Nuggets.

Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported he was away from the team following a disagreement with McMillan and noted there were "multiple team meetings early this season to resolve various conflicts."

Young addressed the situation at the time and said, "We're all grown men here, and sometimes we don't always agree. It's unfortunate that private situations and private conversations get out to the public, but I guess that's the world we live in now. But I'm just focused on basketball and focused on helping my team win, and that's what I've got to get to refocusing on."

Atlanta sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and is 3.5 games behind the sixth-seeded New York Knicks in the race to avoid the play-in tournament. Yet it is also just three games ahead of the 11th-seeded Chicago Bulls, meaning there is plenty of variance still in how the season can unfold.

That puts plenty of pressure on Prunty in an interim role even if the Hawks eventually look elsewhere for their next hire.

McMillan played 12 seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics from 1986 to 1998 and has no shortage of experience as a head coach with stops on the SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers before the Hawks.

He took over as head coach for Atlanta after it fired Lloyd Pierce during the 2020-21 season and wasted little time making an impression by leading the team to a surprising Eastern Conference Finals appearance.

However, the Hawks lost in the first round to the Miami Heat last season and have dealt with inconsistency to this point in 2022-23.

Overall, McMillan went 99-80 during his time as the team's head coach.