NBA: Atlanta Hawks Fire Head Coach Nate McMillan

Nate McMillan was fired as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday, which means the team can start looking for a new coach, and sources told ESPN that Quin Snyder is the leading candidate.

The Hawks have made assistant coach Joe Prunty the team's interim head coach. However, sources told ESPN that new general manager Landry Fields would still begin searching for the team's next head coach as early as Tuesday.

The Hawks are 29-30 and currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings. Even though McMillan and the Hawks had planned to part ways in the offseason, the team's ownership and management have opted to make the change now to still salvage a playoff season, according to sources.

The Hawks have made two significant changes in leadership this season. Apart from firing McMillan, Fields became the team's president of basketball operations after Travis Schlenk resigned last December 21.

Why Did Atlanta Hawks Fire Coach Nate McMillan?

The Atlanta Hawks made some changes to help revive a franchise that has been going nowhere this season. On March 2021, Nate McMillan took over after Lloyd Pierce was relieved of his duties halfway through the season.

The team then made it to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals run, which made McMillan get the permanent head coaching position. However, with his traditionalist views, McMillan was an odd fit for the modern NBA.

In the middle of the season, he argued with star point guard Trae Young when Young missed a shootaround to get medical attention for an injury. Young received a choice from McMillan that night: either play off the bench or not at all, and Young went with the second option, CBS Sports reported.

It was expected that Young and the rest of the Hawks would make great strides this season after acquiring All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray.

The Hawks hoped that Murray's stellar defense would work well with Young and that having another quality point guard would help them when Young is sidelined. The Atlanta Hawks has been a .500 team this season.

Kenny Atkinson Could Replace Atlanta Hawk Coach Nate McMillan

Sources told ESPN that Quin Snyder, a former coach of the Utah Jazz, Charles Lee, the associate head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Kenny Atkinson, an assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors, were among the candidates expected to replace Nate McMillan.

When Kenny Atkinson was the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, the team had a 42-40 record and was removed in the first round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers. He coached the Nets for 62 games the following season before stepping down. His only head coaching job was with the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 2020.

Atkinson left his position as head coach of the Nets to become an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2020-21 NBA season. He has been working as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors since the team hired him on August 13, 2021.

After the Warriors won the NBA Finals, the Charlotte Hornets offered Atkinson the head coaching position, but he declined. With his vast coaching background, Kenny Atkinson would be a top candidate to lead the Atlanta Hawks, according to Fan Nation.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Atlanta Hawks Fire Head Coach Nate McMillan - From CBS Sports