The Atlanta Hawks made it official earlier this month that Nate McMillan would be the head coach moving forward. They signed him to a four-year deal which is fitting given how he turned the franchise around since he took over two games prior to the All-Star break.
The Hawks announced the final two assistant coaches after they retained the services of Chris Jent, Matt Hill, and Marion Garnett. They added Joe Prunty and Jamelle McMillan to round out the coaching roster. This is very much a case of the old and the new joining the coaching staff.
Prunty is a 23-year veteran of the NBA. He has spent time with the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and the Phoenix Suns as an assistant coach.
He was even interim head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks for 52 games. He has also been the head coach of the USA AmeriCup qualifying team and the national team of Great Britain.
The Atlanta Hawks are also keeping it in the family
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McMillan also hired his son Jamelle McMillan but it is not a case of a father giving his son a leg up. The younger McMillan has been a tremendous coach in the time that he has been in the league. He started with the New Orleans Pelicans back in 2013 as a player development coach.
He was elevated to the assistant role in 2016 before serving as head coach in 2017 of the Pelicans summer league team. He served two seasons as an assistant coach of the Phoenix Suns before coming back to the Pelicans for the last two seasons. This is an impressive resume for someone who has been in the league for only eight years.
The Hawks also announced that they have promoted Dipesh Mistry from video coordinator to video assistant and Paul Jesperson from assistant video coordinator to player development coach. Tim Dather has been hired as the video coordinator. Click here for the full list of appointments.