“We butted heads for couple of times” – Trae Young clears air on ‘coach killer’ narrative around him with Draymond Green
Although Trae Young has proven that he can perform in the clutch and silence a crowd, there has been talk that he has been a coach killer. When his first coach Lloyd Pierce parted ways with the Hawks, it was easy to chalk the situation up to a poor fit.
Although Pierce helped develop young players, it seemed as though the Hawks' front office didn't believe he could lead a team to an NBA title. After parting ways with the team in 2021, the Hawks front office tapped assistant Nate McMillan to step in and take over as head coach.
With McMillan being more experienced than Pierce, and having a background as a former player himself, it seemed as though the move was a great fit. This year, however, there was much talk about his future with the team.
Heading into All-Star break, the front office fired McMillan as the team sat with a 29-30 record. During the whole ordeal, there was talk of Trae Young and McMillan being at odds, with some pointing out that Trae Young had already been through two coaches.
During a recent interview on The Draymond Green show, Trae Young addressed the narrative that he's a 'coach killer'. He said:
"Being labeled a coach killer was crazy to me, Lloyd, he was my first coach. He was perfect for us. We were a young team. LP would tell you he was brought in to develop guys.
His first day on the job was basically my first day on the job too so we came in together. I got nothing but love for LP.
He continued:
"But a lot of people want to label it like me vs. him, yeah we butted heads a couple times but we always had respect for each other. With Nate, we got to the Conference Finals.
It got his juices flowing, he wanted to keep coaching us and we wanted to keep rolling with him. And for real, we had a really good relationship."
Looking at Trae Young's new Atlanta Hawks coach, Quin Snyder
With Nate McMillan no longer leading the team, it will now be on Quin Snyder to try and take the team to the next level. A McDonald's All-American who went undrafted in the NBA, Snyder has earned quite the reputation as a coach. During his time with the Utah Jazz, he helped the team make great strides.
After resigning in June of 2022, Snyder took some time off before signing on in February, after the team parted ways with McMillan.
Back when the announcement was made, Atlanta Hawks GM Landry Fields spoke about the hiring process, and why the team chose Snyder.
“From our first conversation, it was clear that Quin had all the characteristics we were looking for in our next head coach.
"He has both an incredible basketball and emotional IQ, and we share the same core values and basketball philosophies of having honest communication and collaboration with players, tremendous attention to detail, and placing a great emphasis on player development.”
With the team recently re-signing Dejounte Murray, it's clear Trae Young and the Hawks hope to be competitive in the Eastern Conference moving forward.