After Monday’s 143-141 double overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Atlanta Hawks suffered their fourth consecutive loss, marking the first time Atlanta has lost four straight games this season in addition to the loss being their seventh in the past 10 games, giving them a 17-20 record on the season.
The Hawks’ struggles to find momentum this season have stemmed primarily from injuries to key players including All-Stars Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, along with John Collins, whom have all spent time out to deal with injuries. Clint Capela has been out dealing with a right calf strain as well.
In addition to the injury bug keeping Atlanta from finding its rhythm, there has been reported rumors of personnel friction, solely between Young and head coach Nate Young. Rumors of their riff began back in early December when an apparent miscommunication between the two at a team shootaround led to Young skipping out on being present at the team’s game against the Denver Nuggets later that night.
While both dismissed the incident as “miscommunication”, rumors of lingering issues between the two and the impact on the locker room continue to swirl, especially following McMillan’s comments about “coaching in a different generation of players,” in comparison to those he played with as well as coached early in his coaching career.
McMillan’s comments on it being “different the way you communicate,” in reference to players of today, seemed to spark more rumors as it was reported last week that the Hawks’ head coach was considering retiring however McMillan debunked the rumored reports.
“All of us think about retiring, but that’s at the end of the season. So we’ll move on past that,” McMillan stated in reference to the possibility of him stepping down as Atlanta’s head man. However, Monday’s loss to the Warriors has many wondering if there is still some type of disconnect with the team and questioning if McMillan has “lost the locker room.”
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Prior to Monday’s game, Dylan Mathews, host of “The Hometown Take” shared his thoughts on seeing the Hawks’ struggles and acknowledged that he would not like for McMillan and the Hawks to go their separate ways. He however noted who he believed would be a solid candidate to replace McMillan should he depart. Click link above to hear Dylan’s thoughts on who he believes would be a good fit to be Atlanta’s next head coach.