Flash back to the Hawks’ locker room ahead of Game 7 in Philadelphia on June 20.
A game the No. 5 seed Hawks, on paper, weren’t supposed to win, and they still could have walked away viewing the season as a great one.
But Nate McMillan told players to view it as a championship game, not just Game 7 against the No. 1 seed in the conference semifinals, according to wing Kevin Huerter. “Believe,” he reminded them, as he had done since taking over as interim coach March 1. The Hawks pulled off the unbelievable, knocking off Philly, going from 14-20 to two wins in the Eastern Conference Finals. Their magical run came to a close Saturday in a Game 6 loss to the No. 3 seed Bucks.
It’s no surprise that McMillan, who oversaw that monumental turnaround, will be the Hawks’ next head coach, per general manager Travis Schlenk.
Players have responded well to McMillan’s message of “believe,” and his experience level (McMillan has ample head-coaching experience, and also played in the NBA). But it’s also his overall aura and attitude that has made the difference, Huerter said during the Hawks’ playoff run.
“It’s kind of a calmness about him, been there done that,” Huerter said. “He’s a coach who has been around a long time. He’s a coach that you know about his history, you know how respected he is. You know he knows what he’s talking about without him having to tell you all that himself. He used to be a defensive player, he used to play in the NBA for this long; he played with Gary Payton, how long he’s coached. There’s never a moment where he has to tell us (all that), it’s almost like there’s a respect level coming from that type of background and guys listening to him.
“Knowing how to talk to people. Always kind of pushing the right buttons and in a lot of ways, being unafraid to throw certain lineups out there. Going with guys who are hot and being someone who can obviously connect with Trae (Young). He just continues to push the right buttons. He’s a great motivator.”
There’s an agreement in principle but still some details to work out, and it will likely be made official soon, Schlenk said Monday.
McMillan took over as interim coach, replacing Lloyd Pierce, and the Hawks immediately went on an eight-game winning streak. He helped transform the Hawks from being in danger of not achieving their stated goal of reaching the playoffs to battling Milwaukee and coming up two wins short of the NBA Finals. Atlanta went 37-19 under McMillan, including the playoffs, and finished 41-31 in the regular season (going 27-11 under McMillan after that 14-20 start). The Hawks went 20-47 last season.
It’s a four-year deal, per ESPN.
Schlenk and McMillan had agreed not to make anything official regarding McMillan’s future with the franchise until after the season was over.
But, Schlenk had actually spoken with McMillan during the regular season and essentially already offered him the job.
“I think even before the postseason started, he did a great job from Day 1 when he came in,” Schlenk said. “The players responded to him extremely well and I thought he did a great job of being really consistent with his messaging to the group. I don’t remember the exact day or time, but at some point during the regular season, I went to Nate and told him that the job was his if he wanted it, and we both agreed to wait until the end of the season to formalize it. But it was before the playoffs.”
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
On Saturday, both Trae Young and John Collins essentially said they’d be shocked if McMillan wasn’t made head coach.
During the playoffs, Young also spoke about how McMillan had boosted his confidence and shown faith in him.
“Just that I know we’re always in the game,” Young said. “He tells me he believes if it’s a couple possessions in a game that I can win anything, and whenever you have a coach that believes in you and tells you that all the time, it really gives not only you confidence but your teammates confidence. I think that’s something that I’ve really taken away from him and he’s talked to me a lot about.”
McMillan encouraging every player on the roster to buckle down on defense and be two-way players helped Collins take to McMillan, he said during the playoffs. McMillan also oversaw the Hawks going from the worst fourth-quarter point differential in the league to the best, helping manage those late-game situations that caused the Hawks to crumble in the season’s first half.
“The biggest thing, especially for me, was he’s challenged all of us on the defensive end,” Collins said. “He’s big on us being two-way players, as he says. Him challenging us and us stepping up to the plate has been part of that, as well. ... Him looking forward and trying to understand certain situations, having been there as a coach and seen a lot of different things, he’s just great at it. You can’t really teach it.”
The more formal negotiations with McMillan’s agents took place Sunday, and a deal was struck Monday morning. Schlenk echoed that McMillan’s consistency and overall steadiness helped him become a great fit for Atlanta, as the franchise aims to compete at a high level for years to come.
“There’s no back-and-forth,” Schlenk said. “Once he says this is what we’re going to do, he’s consistent with it, and because of that consistency, I think the players believe it. When somebody tells you something one day and then they tell you the opposite next day, it’s hard to have that trust. But with him, he was unbelievably persistent with his views and guys bought into it.”
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