Nate McMillan talks about being named full-time head coach of the Hawks

ATLANTA — Last week it was made official, Friday morning it was Nate McMillan’s opportunity to talk about his agreement to become the 14th head coach in Atlanta Hawks history.

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McMillan sat down with reporters and talked about his feelings on taking over a team that went from young and struggling to coming within two games of reaching the NBA finals in the span of a couple months.

LIVE: Hawks Introduce Nate McMillan As Head Coach https://t.co/2uJ9b5VLw8
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) July 9, 2021

He said when team owner Tony Ressler and G.M. Travis Schlenk offered him the interim job, he was only focused on one thing.

“It was focusing on finishing this season. My mind was focused on finishing this season,” McMillan said. “It was all about we want to see these guys play better basketball. It was never about at the end of the season we’ll talk about a contract. It was focusing on finishing this season, my mind was focusing on finishing this season.

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When McMillan took the interim job after Lloyd Pierce was let go March 1, the Hawks were 14-20. The team won eight straight games after McMillan took over and went 27-11 the rest of the regular season. The 41-31 record got them the 5th seed in the playoffs.

The terms of the contract agreement have not been released, but reports say McMillan got a four year contract.

Nate McMillan’s new deal as Atlanta Hawks coach is for four years, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2021

The Hawks job is Nate McMillan’s fourth head coaching job, he began his career coaching the Seattle Supersonics in 2000. He’s been the head coach in Portland and Indiana and has a career coaching record of 661-558.

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