Hawks’ Nate McMillan on Resignation Rumors: ‘We’re Gonna Move Past That Story’

Hawks coach Nate McMillan has refuted a recent report from The Athletic that he is contemplating resigning during the season.

“I read that article briefly,” McMillan told reporters. “I’ve never spoken to that reporter before. I think the last two weeks, he’s written a couple articles with some sources in our organization that are making some comments about me and some things that I’m saying and doing.”

McMillan is in his third season coaching the Hawks after taking over for Lloyd Pierce in 2020-21. Atlanta reached the Eastern Conference Finals in McMillan’s first run at the job.

Things have been fairly uneven since, however. 

Earlier in the season, The Athletic reported McMillan and star guard Trae Young had a verbal confrontation in practice — which is likely why McMillan referred to a “couple” of stories from the outlet.

“We’re going to move on past that, that story. We have a (playoff) race to prepare for. We’re trying to get our guys healthy and make another run at the playoffs. But the things that were reported — look, I’m here to coach this team and I’ve talked to (Hawks owner Tony Ressler) many times. Our goal is to make the playoffs and that’s what we’re working towards.”

McMillan then joked, “So we’ve squashed that, right?”

The Hawks are 87-69 overall under McMillan, with a disappointing 17-19 mark this year.

Here's the start of Nate McMillan's pre-game press conference in video form, including the question about The Athletic's report from @WilliamsLaurenL and McMillan's answer on whether he's considered resigning: pic.twitter.com/jgE1LGdqQ3

— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) December 30, 2022