Atlanta Hawks interim coach Nate McMillan fined $ 25,000 for saying the NBA needed New York Knicks within the playoffs

The NBA fined Atlanta Hawks’ interim coach Nate McMillan Thursday with a fine of $ 25,000 for making comments on Wednesday “alleging bias about the 2020-21 playoffs” announced the league on.

On Wednesday, McMillan, whose Hawks will play the Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, told the media in a Zoom conversation that the NBA wanted New York in the playoffs. He said on the call that this is the message he delivered to his team.

“Absolutely, I’ve talked a lot about it with the team. Basically, I’ve gone so far as to say that the league wants that,” he said. “You need this, New York, this is a big market for the league, and New York hasn’t been in the playoffs for a few years.

“And this is a team that our league wants to see – there is a huge fan base – and that New York wants to see the playoffs.”

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He added: “The league wants to see it, everyone wants to see this. Including the fact that ours [opening] Game has been postponed to Sunday, they want to see it.

“So, yeah, we’ve talked about it, the benefits of this situation and some of the things we have to face [Game 1]Everyone chooses New York to win and a lot of people want to see New York in the playoffs. It’s a battle, it’s a challenge just to play New York, all that goes with it. … They had a really good season and I think the NBA is looking forward to having them back in the playoffs. “

McMillan also commented on the call that “there will be a lot of calls that are unlikely to be our direction,” and explained how his team needs to keep calm under the pressure.

Additionally, McMillan said he had told his team that most of the media are picking the Knicks to take out the Hawks on the series. New York won all three regular season games, though Atlanta has been one of the hottest teams in the league since McMillan took over as coach shortly before the All-Star break after Lloyd Pierce was fired.

The Hawks were 14-20 years old when they made the change of coach. They are between 27 and 11 years old since then and represent the best record of all teams in the Eastern Conference in this period.

The Knicks (41-31), who are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2012/13 season, will host their first game against the Hawks (41-31) on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. Atlanta is in the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.