The Hawks have added three experienced voices around Quin Snyder, bringing Jason Love into an assistant coaching role while Ettore Messina and Sergi Oliva join the organization in advisory positions. The moves deepen Atlanta’s player-development, strategy and international coaching resources heading into the next phase of Snyder’s tenure.
Hawks add Love, Messina and Oliva to Quin Snyder’s staff
Love arrives after two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he worked as an assistant coach in player development. His earlier NBA work came during a five-year run in Philadelphia. He began with the 76ers as a player development associate in 2019, moved up to skill development coach in 2021 and became an assistant coach in 2023.
A Philadelphia native, Love played at Xavier from 2006 through 2010. His 108 victories remain the most by any player in Musketeers history. After college, he spent seven seasons playing professionally outside the United States before beginning his NBA coaching path.
Messina returns to the NBA as a coaching consultant, reconnecting with Snyder after the Hawks coach previously worked on his staff at CSKA Moscow. The 66-year-old Messina carries one of the deepest résumés in European basketball, including four EuroLeague crowns: two with Virtus Bologna, in 1998 and 2001, and two with CSKA Moscow, in 2006 and 2008.
Beyond those titles, Messina won multiple domestic championships in Italy and Russia, guided Italy to the EuroBasket silver medal in 1997 and collected numerous Coach of the Year awards. He is also a FIBA Hall of Fame member. His prior NBA stops included a consultant assignment with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011-12 and five seasons as a Spurs assistant from 2014 through 2019.
Oliva comes to Atlanta as basketball strategy and development advisor after four years in Portland’s front office. He held the Trail Blazers’ assistant general manager post and also took the bench as head coach of the Rip City Remix during the 2024-25 G League season.
Like Messina, Oliva has existing ties to Snyder. He served two seasons as a Jazz assistant coach, from 2020 to 2022, after six years with Philadelphia, where he ultimately became vice president of strategy. The Gelida, Catalonia, native also spent 12 years coaching Spanish youth and amateur teams and brings an analytics background that includes a Ph.D. in Computational Complexity from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
SEO Title: Atlanta Hawks add Jason Love, Ettore Messina and Sergi Oliva to Quin Snyder’s staff
Meta Description: The Atlanta Hawks have expanded Quin Snyder’s coaching and development group with assistant Jason Love, consultant Ettore Messina and strategy advisor Sergi Oliva.
