It’s a new era in Atlanta Hawks basketball. For the first time in Trae Young‘s career, he’ll have a hyper-offensive-focused coach leading his team. Quin Snyder took over for Nate McMillan mid-way through the 2022-23 season, providing hope for a fan base that has run out of it.
Whether it’s the John Collins trade rumors, ownership meddling, Travis Schlenk leaving, or locker room turmoil, this fan base has been drug through the wringer. The Hawks might finally see the light at the end of the tunnel with Snyder, though.
When the former Jazz coach took over, the Hawks had stale systems that were predictable and elementary. Without even putting in his entire schemes, Snyder provided a breath of fresh air, and the players responded in the playoffs.
Atlanta took to it to the Heat, who are in the Finals, in Miami, punching their ticket to the postseason. Then, Trae Young led his team to a Game 6 against the Celtics, who everyone thought would sweep the lowly Hawks.
They looked like a completely different team with new life without Nate McMillan, begging the question: was the veteran coach the problem? Only time will tell if Snyder can right this ship, but Trae Young, who has been regarded as a ‘coach killer’ after McMillan and Lloyd Pierce’s dismissals, set the record straight about his relationship with McMillan.
“Everyone can say what they want. Me and him had a really good relationship,” Trae Young explained on his new podcast. “You can’t go to the Eastern Conference Finals without a good relationship from the coach to the PG.”
This is for everyone in the media pushing the narrative that Young and McMillan had a bad relationship. In high-pressure situations, tempers flare. Some don’t quite understand the nuances of high-level sports.
Trae Young gets a bad rap, but he’s just misunderstood. The superstar point guard doesn’t care about anything other than winning a championship. Everyone saw who he was on the biggest stage. He went into Boston to force a Game 6, stole the show in Madison Square Garden, ended the Process in Philadelphia, and almost shocked the world against the Bucks.
He’s a killer, not a coach killer.
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Photographer: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
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