Atlanta Hawks

Hawks' Budenholzer missing game due to 'family emergency'

Published Nov. 13, 2015 10:55 a.m. ET

foxsports

ATLANTA (AP) Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer will miss Friday night's game at Boston because of a family emergency.

The team announced that Budenholzer returned to Atlanta early Friday after initially traveling with the team. The Hawks gave no additional details and asked fans and media to ''respect the private nature of the situation.''

Top assistant Kenny Atkinson will coach the Hawks (8-2) against the Celtics.

Budenholzer is in his third season as Atlanta's coach. This season he took over as president of basketball operations after the departure of general manager Danny Ferry.

A year ago, Budenholzer guided the Hawks to a franchise-record 60 wins and a spot in the Eastern Conference final. He was the NBA's coach of the year.