Name: Lloyd Pierce is out as Hawks coach and they want Nate McMillan to replace him - Woj | SportsCenter
Uploaded: 2021-03-02T18:31:28.000Z
Duration: 3 min 49 s
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Can we continue with the breaking news from the NBA?

The Hawks, parting ways with their head coach, Lloyd peers today.

Piers going 63 120 in two plus seasons with the Hawks.

They are currently 11th in the Eastern Conference standings.

And, well, you can sort of point to what happened in February.

Only the Rockets and T Wolves had worse records.

Defense continue to be an issue for Atlanta.

You can say that sort of been the Achilles heel for Pierce during his tenure with the team.

I want to bring in senior NBA insider Adrian Jordanovski, now who first reported that Pierce had been let go.

Why did the Hawks aside to make this change right now?

L certainly 11 of 15 losses here, Uh, in recent times, and I think there was a feeling in the organization.

L you know that Lloyd Pierce's voice was not resonating the way they hoped it would in that locker room anymore.

And so they decided here, just the head of an All Star game in Atlanta.

Which is certainly interesting timing When?

When you're the host team and it's and it's your showcase, uh, they would like Nate McMillan to become the interim coach.

I know he was meeting with Lloyd Pearson, the rest of the staff to talk through it with Lloyd.

He was very loyal, has been very loyal, Uh, to Pierce, Um, And so, uh, you know, for Atlanta that maybe the short term move here Nate McMillan in his interim coach if he chooses to do it at the same time.

The one thing I do want to say that why he may have not resonated with his team.

He has made an indelible impact in the city of Atlanta itself through what he's done through voter suppression as well.

I know that's something that really stood out to you about his 10 year in Atlanta as well.

Lloyd Pierce was really, uh, this past summer after the George Floyd murder, he was really the head coach in the NBA who rallied.

The other coaches got them together to start to really, uh, elevate their collective voice.

Lloyd pierces impact, uh, for voting rights, Black lives matter.

Uh, he made a tremendous difference in that community, a lasting difference in that community.

I think Lloyd Pierce is going to have more opportunities, uh, to be a head coach in the NBA.

Gregg Popovich is Olympic coaching staff.

Lloyd Pierce was instrumental in securing State Farm Arena so that they could have that as a voting site.

And you could say it was a trickle effect after that.

Adrian Jordanovski With the latest on Lloyd Pierce being let go from the Atlanta Hawks, I want to get more on this by bringing in our NBA insider, Brian Wind, horse and Wendy.

How surprising would you say the Hawks making?

This move right now is and there's gonna be people out there who are saying going to say it's surprising because the Hawks are banged up because Lloyd was just away from the team because his wife had a child.

But this has been something that people in the league have been watching for for weeks now, and it's not Lloyd pierces fault per se the Hawks changed their direction of their franchise when they hired Lloyd.

They had a whole bunch of young draft picks.

They were trying to have him lead development in this last offseason.

They spend a whole ton of money on free agents, bringing in guys that they wanted to elevate them to the playoffs.

And while there isn't any one reason, and it isn't necessarily thing that Lloyd did, they've underachieved at this point and changes had to be made.

And while there hasn't been an official naming of Nate McMillan to have to replace him when Nate was brought in as a as a lead assistant in the off season, it was expected that this move could happen.

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