Hawks fire Pierce, eye resurgence
ATLANTA — Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce was fired on Monday, given the hook less than halfway into a season that carried heightened expectations before being hampered by injuries.
Hawks president Travis Schlenk announced the move in a short statement released by the team.
The Hawks are 14-20 and 11th in the Eastern Conference, following a 109-99 loss at Miami on Sunday night. It was the Hawks’ 11th loss after holding a fourth-quarter lead. The teams play again in Miami on Tuesday.
Pierce, 44, gave no indication that he thought he was in trouble after Sunday’s loss. He even ran the Hawks’ practice on Monday morning in Miami.
“We would like to thank Lloyd for his work and commitment to not only the Hawks organization but the city of Atlanta,” Schlenk said in the statement.
Pierce, hired in 2018, was 63-120 (.344) with the Hawks, missing the playoffs in each of his two completed seasons.
The Hawks did not immediately name an interim coach. The likely choice is Nate Mcmillan, the former Indiana coach
who was added to Pierce’s staff in the offseason.
Mcmillan filled in for Pierce when Piece was recently away from the team while his wife was giving birth.
Atlanta was Pierce’s first job as a head coach. He was previously an assistant with Philadelphia, Memphis, Golden State and Cleveland.
Schlenk said the move to fire Pierce, which comes less than a week before Atlanta hosts the All-star Game, is timed to help the team have a second-half resurgence.
“We have high expectations for our team on the court, and we believe by making this change now
that we can have a strong second half of the season,” Schlenk said.
The Hawks last appeared in the playoffs in 2017. The team has rebuilt around point guard Trae Young and forward John Collins and invested heavily in veterans in the offseason.
Key additions include Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn. The Hawks’ talent also received a major upgrade with the addition of center Clint Capela.
Dunn has yet to play, due to his ongoing recovery from ankle surgery. Bogdanovic has missed 25 games. Gallinari has missed nine games.
Perhaps most disrupting to the Hawks’ progress was the loss of emerging star De’andre Hunter to knee surgery. Hunter, who had emerged as a scoring complement to Young and Collins, has missed 16 games.
The injuries were not enough to overcome management’s disappointment with the slow start. This was supposed to be the season the Hawks’ return to the playoffs, and Pierce acknowledged before the season it is time to win.
Doncic card sells for $4.6 million
A Luka Doncic National Treasures Auto Logoman 1/1 autographed rookie card sold for $4.6 million according to collector Bolillo Lajan San, and was reportedly the highestpriced NBA card ever sold.
Multiple outlets said that it was reportedly the highest price paid for a basketball card. This came weeks after Doncic’s limited edition 2018 Panini Gold Prizm card sold in an auction for $799,500.
Doncic is averaging 28.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and nine assists this season and is in the middle of a MVP campaign.