Terry Stotts parted with veteran NBA coach George Karl after a 14-year association because he was no closer to being a head coach than when he started with him. It took 27 games with the Hawks before he inherited a struggling team from Lon Kruger.

The Hawks were 11-16 when general manager Pete Babcock pulled the plug on his sinking ship Thursday.

Now the job belongs to Stotts, who joined the Hawks prior to this season from the Milwaukee Bucks.