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Extensive and aggressive search for a new coach to begin immediately

ATLANTA, GA ----- The Atlanta Hawks have dismissed Terry Stotts from his head coaching position, it was announced today by General Manager Billy Knight. According to Knight, an extensive coaching search will begin immediately. The contracts of assistant coaches Larry Smith, Jim Boylan, Armond Hill and Mike McNeive are in place for another season and the next head coach will determine any future employment.

"We are extremely appreciative of the job Terry did for us under the circumstances," said Knight, "however, we believe it is important to change the direction of the Hawks' franchise. Our new ownership group is committed to building a winning product that contends for the NBA championship, and they have placed me in charge of hiring the best candidate possible to accomplish that. With the talented players currently on our roster and the potential to upgrade our team significantly this summer, I fully expect this position to attract several outstanding individuals for us to consider."

Stotts, who joined the Hawks in August 2002 as an assistant to then-coach Lon Kruger, was appointed to his first-ever head coaching job when Kruger was relieved of his duties on December 26, 2002. He coached Atlanta to a 24-31 record over the rest of the 2002-03 season.

A longtime NBA assistant with several teams (Seattle and Milwaukee) before coming to Atlanta, Stotts complied a 52-85 overall record in his one season-and-a-half as the Hawks' boss.

The Hawks will immediately begin an extensive and aggressive search for a new coach.