BREAKING: Head coach Nate McMillan fired by Atlanta Hawks  

The Atlanta Hawks have parted ways with Nate McMillan prior to the team's return from the All-Star break. McMillan and the Hawks have struggled this season, posting a 29-30 record so far.

As the team sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, the two-game losing streak it went on prior to the All-Star break was enough to get McMillan dismissed. Although McMillan and the team had a down year despite the acquisition of Dejounte Murray, his record as head coach for the Hawks sits at a respectable 99-80.

Under his leadership, the team embarked on a pretty impressive run in the 2021 playoffs. However, after a first-round exit last season, the team has underperformed this year. They currently rank in the bottom half of the league in defensive efficiency, while having the 14th-best offensive rating.

The team will look to make a run in the second half of the season with Saddiq Bey added to the roster. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if McMillan's departure sparks a change in fortunes.

"I'll talk to my family and see if I still have that flame" - Nate McMillan on plans to resign in January

Back in December, McMillan was rumored to be on the fence about resigning. At the time, the team was ninth in the East and had a 17-18 record. He was cited by The Athletic as saying that he was struggling to coach the new generation of players.

Despite that, he seemed adamant at the time that he wasn’t going to make any decisions midway through the season. Although he didn’t explicitly refute the claims that he was considering resigning, he emphasized that he would make a decision with his family after the end of the season.

“Look, at the end of the year, I'll do as I've always done, at the end of the season I'll talk to my family and see if I still have that flame, that fire to continue next season. That's the end of the season. All of us think about retiring, but that's at the end of the season. So we'll move on past that.”

So far, there's been no word from McMillan on what his future plans include. Given that he has coached for 18 seasons since his time with the SuperSonics in 2001, he may well choose to take a break.

The Atlanta Hawks, meanwhile, will look to right the ship under new interim head coach Joe Prunty and look ahead towards the remaining 23 games of the season.