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ATLANTA HAWKS LLOYD PIERCE OF HEAD COACHING DUTIES

By Yakiri Thomas / March 2, 2021

Atlanta Hawks President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Travis Schlenk announced on Monday that Lloyd Pierce was relieved of his head coaching duties.

“We would like to thank Lloyd for his work and commitment to not only the Hawks organization but the city of Atlanta. He and his wife, Melissa, are tremendous people who have made a positive impact throughout the city,” said Schlenk. “We have high expectations for our team on the court and we believe by making this change now that we can have a strong second half of the season.”

Pierce was named the 13th full-time head coach in Hawks history on May 11, 2018. He compiled a 63-120 (.344) in 183 games.

Pierce played a vital role this summer, when the Hawks announced a partnership with Fulton County to create Georgia’s largest-ever voting precinct at the award-winning State Farm Arena. Early voting started July 20 for the Georgia General Primary Runoff Election which took place on Aug. 11. Hundreds of Hawks and State Farm Arena full-time and part-time employees were trained to serve as election workers to further support the operations. State Farm Arena also served as an early voting precinct for the November Presidential election.

Schlenk announced that Raleigh, NC native, assistant coach Nate McMillan will serve as interim head coach of the team.

McMillan joined the Hawks coaching staff on Nov. 11, 2020. As head coach with Seattle (2000-05), Portland (2005-12) and Indiana (2016-20), McMillan led his teams to a 661-588 (.529) mark in 1,249 career regular season games and has 53 games of postseason coaching experience. Last season, the Pacers finished 45-28 (.616), second in the Central Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. In his four years with Indiana, the club recorded a 183-136 mark (.574), advancing to the playoffs each season.

McMillan has also served as an Assistant Coach on the U.S. National Team, where he earned gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, as well as the 2006 FIBA World Championships.

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