The Atlanta Hawks have added some veteran presence and experience to the franchise. According to reports from the Italian outlet Repubblica, Ettore Messina will join the Georgia-based team to begin a new era in the NBA, in which he will serve as an advisor to help shape the development of the young project.
Messina, who has been without a team since leaving Olimpia Milano last year, has already spent time in the American league on two occasions, initially serving as an advisor to the Lakers in the 2011-12 season and later, after a spell with CSKA Moscow, as an assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio from 2014 to 2019. Now, in a role that is once again more closely tied to the front office, he returns to the competition, and will do so while working closely with an old acquaintance.
And the thing is, Quin Snyder, Atlanta’s current head coach, was Messina’s assistant for one season during that Moscow cycle, and they will now team up again albeit in different roles. On that occasion, their partnership yielded a Russian League championship and one from the VTB United League, and now they will work hand in hand so that a Hawks team that already closed the 2025-26 season with positive signals continues its ascent toward the upper echelon of a competitive Eastern Conference.
