The Atlanta Hawks have been in the spotlight due to a major personnel change within the camp in the last few days. Moreover, several reports suggested that the Hawks had it coming after an underwhelming season. The team surprised the NBA world when they dismissed their head coach Nate McMillan midway through the season on Tuesday. The Hawks players addressed the issue on Friday as they returned to the hardwood after the All-Star Weekend break. However, Atlanta’s star player Trae Young’s statement on McMillan’s dismissal took the NBA world by surprise.
Nate McMillan joined the Atlanta Hawks midway through the 2020-21 season and led the team to the Conference Finals. However, the team currently sits in the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference with a disappointing 30-30 record. The team’s performance has not been good considering they added All-Star Dejounte Murray ahead of the start of the season.
Fans call Trae Young a ‘Liar’
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In a press interaction before the Friday night game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Trae Young addressed the sudden dismissal of Nate McMillan. While there were reports of a rift between McMillan and Young, the $207 million star addressed the issue. As per an article on NBA’s official website, he said, “There’s a lot of moments that people really don’t understand that me and him have had and that’s OK.” The star further continued to talk about his vision only to play basketball and win the championship.
However, a particular statement from 2x All-Star on the former head coach lit up the fans’ eyes. Responding to McMillan’s dismissal, he said, “It was surprising to me.”
Furthermore, Young’s ‘surprising’ comment triggered fans with brutal opinions on Twitter. One user said, “Trae pretending to be upset after hearing the news.” Another user referred to the star as a “Liar” in the comments section. Following are some reactions from NBA Twitter.
Trae pretending to be upset after hearing the news pic.twitter.com/IPUWLtTvU4
— Chris™ (@DasChris_) February 24, 2023
Trae after Nate got fired: pic.twitter.com/Hp36IxNEoV
— RJ Barrett Fanatic (@PlayoffBoundNYK) February 24, 2023
— 💙🤍 (@OwnedByKyrie) February 24, 2023
— Bobby B – 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@RudeBoyNYK) February 24, 2023
Trae trying to figure out who got the coach fired pic.twitter.com/B6i9f6Vx3x
— zip file (@taxtherichjklol) February 24, 2023
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In the absence of McMillan, assistant coach Joe Prunty took up the interim head coach role for the game against the Cavaliers. The team registered a comfortable 136-119 win against the Cavs. Young dropped an impressive 34 points to lead his side to the win. Moreover, Shams Charania reported that the Hawks are closing in on a deal to bring former Utah Jazz head coach, Quin Snyder to Atlanta.
Quin Snyder is nearing a deal to become the new head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, with a significant contract that is expected to be in the $8 million per year range, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 25, 2023
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What do you think is the reason behind head coach Nate McMillan’s dismissal? Will the Hawks deliver better performance under the new head coach? Let us know in the comments below.