ATLANTA – Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce was fired on Monday after a disappointing start to a season of high expectations.
Atlanta team president Travis Schlenk announced the move in a brief statement released by the team.
Hawks are the hopeful assistant, Nate McMillan will choose to become the interim head coach, say sources from Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN. McMillan is meeting with Pierce and the rest of the Hawks coaching staff, sources said. McMillan was extremely loyal to Pierce’s support.
The Hawks are 14-20 and 11 in the Eastern Conference, after a 109-99 loss to Miami on Sunday night. The teams play again in Miami on Tuesday.
“We would like to thank Lloyd for his work and commitment not only to the Hawks, but to the city of Atlanta,” Schlenk said in a statement. Schlenk said the move, which comes less than a week before Atlanta hosts the All-Star Game, is scheduled to help the team enjoy a second-half comeback.
“We have high expectations for our team on the field and we believe that by making this change now, we can have a strong second half of the season,” Schlenk said. Pierce, hired in 2018, was 63-120 (.344) with the Hawks, missing the playoffs in each of the two completed seasons. Atlanta started the season 10-9, but lost 11 of its last 15 games.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.