Hawks coach Pierce says that team growth would suffer if team is left out of NBA return

Atlanta’s Lloyd Pierce, a coach for one of eight teams outside the 22-team plan that reportedly has growing support for the NBA’s restart in Orlando, Florida, says the exclusion would be damaging for his team.

“I coach the youngest team in the NBA,” Pierce said. “And the biggest thing we can benefit from is playing basketball, and the game has been taken away from all of us at this point. If the season is going to resume and we’re still not a part of it, it hurts our growth, it hurts our product, it hurts our ability to continue the momentum that we need going into next season,” Pierce said in an interview with The Jump’s Rachel Nichols.