As of Wednesday morning, former Pacers coach Nate McMillan joined the Hawks as an assistant coach under Lloyd Pierce.
The hiring had been in the works for a few weeks, but he’s now on staff.
Pierce thinks the addition of McMillan will bring valuable experience as the Hawks aim to make a huge leap next season and contend for the playoffs.
“I reached out to Nate after he became available and we’ve had extensive conversations centering around the value, expertise and experience he would add as we look to progress next season," Pierce said in a statement. "This is a unique opportunity that will benefit me, our coaching staff and our entire roster.
“In his 16 years as a successful NBA head coach, his teams have emulated his playing style and personality. They’ve always been disciplined, competitive, played together and won at a high level. I have great respect for Nate as a man and as a coach, and I feel fortunate to welcome him to our staff and to the Hawks.”
McMillan has extensive NBA coaching experience and was the head coach with Seattle (2000-05), Portland (2005-12) and most recently Indiana (2016-20). With the Pacers, McMillan had a 183-136 record (.574) and advanced to the playoffs each season. Overall, he has a 661-588 (.529) record in 1,249 career regular-season games, with 53 games of postseason coaching experience.
McMillan played at N.C. State and was drafted 30th overall by Seattle in the 1986 draft. He spent his career with the Sonics (his No. 10 jersey was later retired) and was known for his defensive prowess – McMillan was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive team in 1994 and 1995 and led the league in steals in the 1994 season (2.94 per game).
That experience could help the Hawks, who will need to show vast improvement on defense if they want to be competitive next season.
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