Nick Van Exel was officially named an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
PHOTO: ATLANTA HAWKS

Nick Van Exel joins coaching staff of Atlanta Hawks

Kenosha native was previously a scout for the Dallas Mavericks

By ATLANTA HAWKS COMMUNICATIONS

Committed to entertaining and uniting the city of Atlanta since 1968, the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena, under the leadership of Principal Owners Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz, continue to build bridges through basketball by following its True to Atlanta mantra.

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks named NBA veteran player and coach Nick Van Exel as an assistant coach on Wednesday. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The Kenosha native and 1989 St. Joseph graduate was previously a player development instructor for the Hawks from 2010-12.

Nick Van Exel

“Since his playing career ended, Nick has been very successful in helping develop young guards for the teams he’s worked with, including several that have turned into All-Stars,” said Hawks Head Coach Nate McMillan. “We feel he’ll be a great addition helping our young core guards continue to progress.”

Van Exel returns to Atlanta from the Dallas Mavericks, where he was a scout the last two seasons. The former head coach of the Texas Legends of the NBA G League (2015-16), Van Exel also has coaching experience with the Memphis Grizzlies (2016-19), Milwaukee Bucks (2013-14) and Texas Southern University (2009-10).

The 1998 NBA All-Star played 13 years in the league (1993-2006) with the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs. In 880 career regular season games (670 starts), he averaged 14.4 points, 6.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 32.9 minutes (.405 FG%, .357 3FG%, .794 FT%). He also saw action in 76 playoff games (27 starting assignments), averaging 13.6 points, 4.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 31.4 minutes.

Van Exel started his collegiate career at Trinity Valley Community College (Athens, Texas) before spending his final two seasons at University of Cincinnati, where he was named Associated Press Third-Team All-American as a senior. Van Exel was selected by the Lakers in the second round (37th overall) of the 1993 NBA Draft.

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