Hawks make it official with two-year contract for Drew

By Michael Cunningham

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Hawks officially hired Larry Drew as its head coach on Sunday by signing him to a two-year contract with an option for a third year, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

Atlanta decided on Drew, its former assistant coach, on Friday and worked out the contract details over the weekend. Drew, 52, succeeds Mike Woodson, who was fired following the season. Drew was Woodson’s lead assistant for six seasons. He slides into the head coach’s seat for the first time in his career.

The Hawks will introduce Drew as coach at a Monday news conference. They picked him from a group of finalists that also included Avery Johnson, Dwane Casey and Mark Jackson.

“We are very pleased to welcome Larry as the new head coach of the Atlanta Hawks,” Atlanta general manager Rick Sund said in a statement released by the team. “After aggressively going through the interview process with all of the candidates it became clear, with his knowledge of the game as well as his experience as player and assistant coach, he had the qualities we were looking for to lead our club.

“Over the last few years, a number of teams have had success hiring from within and we feel he is more than ready for the challenge.”

Before joining Woodson's staff in 2004-05, Drew was an assistant coach for the Lakers, Wizards, Pistons and Nets.

“It has been a long journey to reach this level in my career and I’m very appreciative of the support I’ve been given by the ownership group and Rick,” Drew said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to become a head coach in this league, and I will do my very best to continue to build on what we’ve accomplished here in Atlanta.”

Drew, a native of Kansas City, played point guard in 714 games over 10 NBA seasons from 1980-91. The Pistons selected him with the 17th overall pick in the 1980 draft after he played at the University of Missouri.