2 weeks Ago By Jeff Schudel
The regular season was winding down, the Cavaliers on the verge of clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson was asked what it would mean to him to be named NBA Coach of the Year.Normally Atkinson gives detailed information when answering questions, but not this time. Or maybe they were the only details he needed to get his point across.
“None. Zero. Not important,” Atkinson said.
“Coach of the Year is a product of roster construction and talent.”True, but Atkinson has done more with basically the same talent his predecessor was coaching last year.Kenny Atkinson and the Cavaliers’ staff coached this season’s NBA All-Star Game.
(Tim Phillis – For The News-Herald)That predecessor, J.B. Bickerstaff, was fired after the Cavaliers finished 48-34 in the regular season and then were knocked out of the playoffs by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
It did not take long for Bickerstaff to land another job. Bickerstaff is an excellent team builder. He takes teams that are in tatters and turns them into playoff teams.
The Pistons were last in the Eastern Conference at 14-68 in 2023-24. Bickerstaff turned them into a top-six team in the East with a 44-38 record. The Pistons will meet the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
Atkinson is the betting favorite to be named Coach of the Year at minus-325, according to BetMGM.com, meaning a bettor putting his money on Atkinson would have to plunk down $325 to net a $100 profit. Bickerstaff has the second best odds at plus-200.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault is a distant third at plus-2200.Atkinson is being modest about his input on the Cavaliers success this year. That observation comes directly from Darius Garland.
“Kenny means a lot to all of us,” Garland said. “Just getting a new voice in the locker room, a new system, a new culture.“He instilled a lot of confidence in all of us.
He has the Defensive Player of the Year shooting 3s, so that’s a huge thing for us because he can really shoot it. It gives us a lot more space for driving and attacking downhill. That was a small change we never thought about.
It just opened up a can of worms for us.”Garland was referring to Evan Mobley, who is a candidate for DPOY. He is averaging 3.
2 3-point attempts a game. That is almost triple his 1.2 attempts last season.
“I know he doesn’t want to take credit for it, but he’s a really good coach,” Garland continued. “Donovan is in the MVP discussions again. J.
A. (Jarrett Allen) should have been an All-Star. We appreciate him for sure.
”Atkinson was head coach of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 2020. He was a Clippers assistant coach in 2020-21 and a Warriors assistant the three years prior to Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman hiring him to replace Bickerstaff.The influence Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had on Atkinson is evident by the way the Cavaliers spread the floor and pass the ball to find an open man.
Mobley said Atkinson instilled a new energy from the start of training camp.“I thought from training camp we could be the 1 or 2 seed,” Mobley said. “We were all going at it.
Our depth back then was already at an all-time high.“From the way we started the season, we all played together. That was the biggest thing that showed we could be a top contender and win it.
We all believed that from the start of the season. Now it’s time to go out and prove it.”Thunder general manager Sam Presti is considered the favorite to be named NBA Executive of the Year.
Knicks president Leon Rose is also being considered, according to reports.Altman deserves Executive of the Year votes for zeroing in on Atkinson and for not trading Garland or Allen when it would have been easy for him to reduce the core four and make Mitchell and Mobley the dynamic duo. Altman gambled that Atkinson could get the most out of Garland and Mitchell as a tandem and won.
“(Our success) is a testament to the talent on this team and the continuity and the leadership,” Atkinson said. “Leadership from a player’s standpoint – Donovan, Darius, Evan and J.A.
You take those things together, that’s what it equals. As a coaching staff, I think we’ve done a good job guiding that whole process, but it starts with the talent that’s on this roster.”Every coach in every sport at the beginning of a season says the goal is to win the championship.
The difference between when Atkinson was in Brooklyn and the 2024-25 Cavaliers is Atkinson believed what he was saying. He said legitimate championship thoughts developed “organically,” but he knew from the first practice of training camp at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence in early October that he wasn’t being asked to make chicken salad out of chicken feathers.“When I first met with all of them, I thought, ‘We’re pretty good,’ ” Atkinson said after the Cavs beat the Bulls on April 8 to clinch the East.
“They knew they’re good. But there was no proclamation, no ‘Hey, were a championship team,’ none of that, but they knew they were good. I quite honestly didn’t know they were this good or this talented.
”The Cavaliers were in first place in the Eastern Conference from the first day of the season to the last. They started out 15-0 and had a 12-game and a 16-game streak on their way to a 64-18 record.“I find myself thinking into the future more,” Atkinson said.
“I was thinking during the (Bulls) game about matchups in the playoffs – first round, second round, conference finals, Finals. I never thought ahead before.“You have to get ahead.
You have to plan what that looks like. That’s a different sensation for me as a coach.”Clinching the top seed in the East meant the Cavs had to wait for the play-in tournament to conclude April 18 before knowing the identity of their first-round opponent.
Kenny Atkinson looks on during the Cavaliers’ loss to the Pacers on April 13. (Tim Phillis – For The News-Herald).
