NBA World reacts to Nate McMillan being fired by Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks have fired head coach Nate McMillan after a 29-30 start to the 2022-23 season and the NBA world was stunned by the move.

Nate McMillan took over the Atlanta Hawks midway into the 2020-21 season but the results had been middling. The team made the playoffs last season but were bounced convincingly and surprisingly in the first round out of the Eastern Conference and then entered the All-Star break this offseason as the Hawks were just 29-30 on the year.

That was enough for the front office in Atlanta.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Hawks have fired McMillan and will finish the remainder of the 2022-23 season without him on the sidelines.

Joe Prunty will be named the interim head coach in Atlanta after the move.

Nate McMillan fired by Hawks: NBA World reacts

Particularly with the timing of the move being during the All-Star break, NBA Twitter was fired up over the move with a mix of shock and, as always, plenty of jokes.

There were obviously several references to Hawks fans being excited over the move after a year of underperforming. On top of that, though, Trae Young was also brought up quite often.

Reports and rumors throughout this season have suggested that Atlanta’s star guard had been butting heads with McMillan throughout the year. Moreover, there was also speculation that this could lead to Young’s eventual exit from the franchise, which could be highly detrimental to the future.

That being said, perhaps the Hawks are taking measures to try and figure out how they can keep Young around and, if there was a rift between the guard and Nate McMillan, the latter had to go.

It remains to be seen but, what’s for sure is that Atlanta now has to begin a head coaching search.