In the eyes of many people, Trae Young is now officially a “coach killer.”
If you’re reading this you are well aware the Atlanta Hawks fired head coach Nate McMillan Tuesday afternoon. Less than two years after making the Eastern Conference Finals, McMillan exits with a record of 99-80 and consecutive underwhelming regular seasons. The Hawks sit at 29-30 and eighth place in the East, a position they have mired in for most of the last month.
While last year’s team found its identity in an elite offense catalyzed by an All-NBA season from Trae Young, this year’s squad has failed to effectively meld blockbuster acquisition
Dejounte Murray into a cohesive offensive scheme. The Hawks also traded away Kevin Huerter and moved on from Danilo Gallinari and Delon Wright in head-scratching cost-cutting moves. One of the league's most potent and well-rounded benches in 2021-22 has become a huge question mark in 2022-23.
While McMillan can’t be blamed for the Hawks questionable roster management, he deserves a lion’s share of the blame for his inability to build a viable offensive structure outside of high pick-and-roll and double drag sets for the primary ball-handler. The Hawks have plummeted in offensive rating from No.2 last season to No.14 this year, and the slight improvement on defense (No.26 last year to No.21 this year) hasn’t been enough to offset a clunky and uncreative attack that lacks the outside shooting that made it potent in previous years. McMillan’s Hawks team has been running on treadmill – to talented to tank, but not good enough to compete.
Enter Trae Young into the conversation.
There has been so much smoke about the fractures in McMillan’s relationship with Trae Young it’s hard not to believe there is at least a little fire. Things seemed to come to a head after Trae no-showed on the bench of a home game in December while he was injured, and weeks later rumors started swirling about McMillan contemplating walking away from the team completely. It seems obvious the team and McMillan were headed for a divorce in the near future, but the team’s swoon heading into the All-Star break seems to have expedited that process. That makes McMillan the second Hawks coach in less than two years to lose his job because of an underperforming team and issues with Trae Young. The beef between Trae Young and Lloyd Pierce has been well-documented and Pierce did not have the resume, league-wide respect, and recent playoff success McMillan has.
So with two coaches down in two years – doesn’t that officially make Trae Young a “coach killer?”
If your answer to that is “YES,” then be prepared to add a number of other title-winning superstar to the list of “coach killers” as well.
Instead of reaching way back in NBA history to look at players like Kobe Bryant running off Rudy Tomjanovich, Jason Kidd getting Byron Scott fired, and Stephon Marbury punking Larry Brown, we will keep our list to current or recent NBA players who got successful coaches dismissed.
LeBron James & Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavs canned Brown in 2010 following consecutive 60-win seasons and a Coach of the Year Award in 2009. Brown reportedly didn’t vibe with LeBron James with James allegedly ignoring Brown’s instructions during huddles and timeouts.
Dwight Howard & Stan Van Gundy, Orlando Magic - Van Gundy famously acknowledged that he knew Dwight Howard wanted him fired in possibly the most awkward press conference of all-time. Van Gundy got the axe in May of 2012 after a six-year run that included making the playoffs every year and reaching the NBA Finals in 2009.
LeBron James & David Blatt, Cleveland Cavaliers - During Lebron James’ second stint in Cleveland, Blatt led the Cavaliers to the 2015 NBA Finals only to be fired the next season with a 30-11 record and the Cavs sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference. Sitting GM David Griffin cited "a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision,” which pretty clearly translates to “He didn’t fit with LeBron James.” Tyronn Lue replaced him and the Cavs went on to win a championship by upsetting the 73-win Golden State Warriors. .
James Harden & Kevin McHale, Houston Rockets - James Harden reportedly pushed for McHale’s firing just 11 games into the the 2015-16 season following three consecutive winning seasons and a trip to the Conference Finals the previous year.
Luka Doncic & Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks - Carlisle, a championship coach universally respected around the league, left the Mavericks in 2021 due to growing distrust with the front office and reported friction with star player Luka Doncic.
Kevin Durant & Steve Nash, New Jersey Nets - Nash replaced Kenny Atkinson in 2020, largely because of his relationship with GM Sean Marks and star player Kevin Durant. Following to disappointing and injury-plagued seasons, Durant reportedly asked for Nash to be fired this past summer as a condition for Durant remaining with the team. Fences were supposedly mended, but Nash’s tenure ended abruptly just seven games into the 2022-23 season.
Need we go on? Boogie Cousins and Paul Westphal, Richard Hamilton and John Kuester, Deron Williams and Jerry Sloan, and OF COURSE Latrell Sprewell and P.J. Carlesimo. The list is long and distinguished.
Here's the truth -- Any time a team with a star player underperforms the coach will be the first to take fire. It’s a player’s league. The guy making $37 million will always be valued over the guy making $4 million. The All-Star player will always be valued over the Coach of the Year head man.
Even in cases where a star player DOESN’T want the coach canned, underperformance always falls back on the HC. That’s why Doc Rivers (the greatest coach in Clipper history) gets fired when a team with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George blows a 3-1 lead against Denver in
the second round of the 2020 Playoffs. It’s why Frank Vogel gets axed by the Lakers 18 months after winning an NBA championship with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It’s why Brett Brown gets bounced in Philly after laboring to bring them from the bottom of the league into playoff contention with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
Talent leads to expectations. Unmet expectations lead to turnover. The turnover always starts with the head coach. The Hawks are here.
Trae Young MIGHT be a poor leader. Trae Young MIGHT even be a “coach killer.” But history shows this is part of the cycle for every championship superstar not drafted by the San Antonio Spurs. Very, very few superstars win a title with their first coach. Giannis Antetokounmpo won his first championship with his fifth head coach, Lebron James with his fifth, Dirk Nowitzki with his third, Kevin Durant with his third, and Dwyane Wade with his second. The current generation of title-less stars – Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Devin Booker, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, etc. are all on head coach number two or greater.
Atlanta has pushed their chips to the middle of the table with Trae Young. Is this coaching change the catalyst for vaulting the Hawks into perennial playoff contention?
If not the franchise will be forced to answer a much harder question -- "Is Trae Young the problem?"
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