Larry Drew to Interview With the Milwaukee Bucks

Hawks head coach Larry Drew is on his way out of Atlanta — this was confirmed in a meeting with GM Danny Ferry last week — and is scheduled to interview for the Milwaukee Bucks‘ vacant head coaching position today. Per the AJC and Journal Sentinel: “I’ve moved on from the situation,’ Drew said. ‘We had a very professional talk just trying to get things in order since I’m still under contract.’ There has also been interest in Drew from a second team. There are currently five openings for head coaches in the NBA – the Bucks, Pistons, Nets, Bobcats and 76ers. The door is not completely closed on Drew returning to coach the Hawks were he spent the past nine years, the last three as head coach. ‘There is not a sadness,’ Drew said. ‘This is a business. We left open that this could evolve back. If it doesn’t, I have to move on. That’s how this business works. I knew that. Nine years is a good run. There is a business side to this profession.’ […] Finding the proper balance in a coach-player relationship is not easy. But Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew believes it is one of his strong suits. Drew is still under contract with the Hawks through June 30 but has been given permission to speak with other teams and will interview for the Milwaukee Bucks coaching position Monday. ‘The bottom line is you want those guys to run through a wall for you,’ Drew said Saturday. ‘It’s different than it was 20 years ago. In dealing with today’s player, it’s important to have a player-coach relationship that has some stability to it. ‘You do have to know how to push the right buttons.’ Bucks general manager John Hammond said at the end of the season he was seeking a coach who could put his arm around a player but also maintain discipline in the locker room.”