Hawks coaching staff undergoes changes

Originally posted on SportsTalkATL | By Alex Lord | Last updated 7/6/22

Over the holiday weekend, the Hawks made a couple of changes to Nate McMillan ‘s coaching staff. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Mike Longabardi will serve as an assistant coach.

The Atlanta Hawks are hiring Mike Longabardi as an assistant coach — with Joe Prunty getting promoted to top assistant, sources tell ESPN. Longabardi — mostly recently with Sacramento — replaces Chris Jent, who accepted the No. 1 job on Darvin Ham's new Lakers staff.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 4, 2022

The team lost Chris Jent, their top assistant coach, to the Lakers’ new head coach Darvin Ham‘s staff, which always meant a reshuffling was coming. Joe Prunty, who has been in the league since 1996, was promoted to replace Jent. Prunty spent time in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich and was part of the 1999, 2003, and 2005 championship teams.

Longabardi was brought in to replace Prunty, who has spent time with the Rockets, Celtics, Suns, Cavaliers, Wizards, and Kings. Longabardi has experience coaching former Sac-Town players Maurice Harkless and Justin Holiday, so that connection should provide valuable insight into what lineups work best. Ironically, Mr. Defense was his nickname in college, so hopefully, Longabardi’s addition improves the Hawks on that end of the court.

The additions of the Holiday brothers, Harkless, and Dejounte Murray reveal the direction the club is headed — surrounding Trae Young with tough defensive-minded role players.

Photographer: Darrell Walker/Icon Sportswire

This article first appeared on SportsTalkATL and was syndicated with permission.

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