Star guard Trae Young isn’t surprised the Hawks are in the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
“It just shows we had it all along,” Young said. “We just needed to believe in each other and go out there and do it.”
The Hawks clinched their berth with a win over the Wizards on Wednesday. But that’s not to say the season has been absent of some challenges.
Coach Lloyd Pierce was fired after a sluggish start, and early-season rumors suggested Young and forward John Collins weren’t always on the same page. But all is well now, and it seemed to start when Nate McMillan took over as interim coach. (Young has openly campaigned for McMillan to return, and by all accounts, McMillan will.)
And why not? The Hawks are 25-11 under McMillan. Maybe the interim man will be NBA Coach of the Year?
“This is what I came down here for, to try to help this team get to the next level,” McMillan said. “These guys have stood up and accepted that. I’m just thrilled to death that I can be part of this.”
It’s resulted in a second-half-season full of fun, with more still to come.
“Just knowing how hard it is to get to this position, to have to literally build our entire team to get to this position, makes it that much more gratifying that we’re here,” Young said. “But we’re not satisfied, that’s for sure.”
