Pacers Hire Nate Bjorkgren as Their New Head Coach

It has been two months since Nate McMillan was released from Indiana Pacers as the coach of the team. And, right after two months, Pacers have found their replacement - they have hired Nate Bjorkgren as their new coach. The Pacers found their replacement after another first-round playoff exit. The news got confirmation from the team on October 20, Tuesday. The Toronto Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren will be working as the new head coach for Indiana Pacers. 

About Nate Bjorkgren

Prior to getting this appointment, Nate Bjorkgren has served as the assistant coach for the reigning NBA Coach of the Year Nick Nurse for two straight seasons. With his work, Bjorkgren helped his team to take home the 2019 NBA Finals cup. Prior to that from 2015-17 Bjorkgren has also worked as the assistant coach and the player development coordinator of the Phoenix Suns for two seasons. Only after working with Phoenix Suns, Bjorkgren signed a contract with Toronto from 2017-18 as an advanced scout. 

When in the 2010-11 NBA G League championship, the Iowa Energy won, Bjorkgren was working as an assistant under Nurse. The President of Indiana, Kevin Pritchard released a statement after this announcement of Bjorkgren, which said, "We are very pleased and excited to have Nate as our new coach. This was an extensive and thorough search, and when we reached the conclusion, we felt strongly Nate is the right coach for us at the right time. He comes from a winning background, has experienced championship success, is innovative and his communication skills along with his positivity are tremendous. We all look forward to a long, successful partnership in helping the Pacers move forward."

What Bjorkgren said the announced

After the release of the statement from Kevin Pritchard about this new appointment, Bjorkgren thanked the team and said, "I am honored to take on the role as head coach of the Indiana Pacers. This is something I have prepared for during my career. I want to thank Kevin, Chad (Buchanan), Kelly (Krauskopf), Larry Bird, Donnie Walsh, and Herb and Steve Simon for this opportunity. I also want to thank Nick Nurse for giving me my first professional coaching job 14 years ago. I'm looking forward to working with this great team to achieve our goal as NBA Champions.”

Prior to having been appointed as the head coach, Bjorkgren had played college basketball for  Buena Vista University and the University of South Dakota. He had also worked as an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors from 2018–2020 and the Phoenix Suns from 2015–2017. With his hiring for the team Indiana Pacers, it would definitely mean new developments taking place. Let’s see what all changes we are going to see in the coming future.