Nate McMillan was hesitant.
The then-Atlanta Hawks assistant coach was months into his new position but facing an offer to take over for the recently fired Lloyd Pierce, the man who brought him to Atlanta after McMillan was dismissed by the Indiana Pacers.
The Hawks were in Miami at the time, a young team that underachieved by the organization’s standards but not by many around the league. Pierce was a young coach with a sterling reputation, endorsed and supported around the NBA.
Something hadn’t clicked, the team was dealing with injuries to key players and continuity hadn’t been developed.