CLEVELAND — In his first game as a head coach, against the Nets team that fired him, and yes, Brooklyn fired him, Kenny Atkinson had a little extra motivation, some extra emotion, and a whole lot of… I admitted that there was something extra.
On the night he led Cleveland to the championship-winning game against Golden State as an assistant and set the league's best undefeated record, Atkinson led his team to an 11-0 lead with a 105-100 victory over an underdog Nets franchise. Him in 2020.
“Yeah. I mean, it's always…unique,” Atkinson said Saturday. “Warriors, that was a unique game. [special] Back to back. But you’re a competitor, right? And even more [Friday]You had such a great experience with the teams you were with, but you also wanted to beat them, so you thought, “Man, I wanted that game.''
“And it's the same with the Nets. I had a great experience, but when you've been on a team before, there's always something, a little bit special. A little more awareness, a little more nerve, a little more… I want some more.”
Atkinson, a Long Island native, spent parts of four seasons with the Nets from 2016 to 2020.
The Huntington native had the rug pulled out from under him after taking over the worst team in the NBA and leading a team that featured current Cavaliers Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert to the playoffs.
With Kevin Durant missing the 2019-20 season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, and Kyrie Irving moving in and out of the lineup, the Nets predictably struggled that season.
After Atkinson called a postgame meeting, Durant, who wasn't playing, spent much of the time trying to dismantle the team.
A lack of support from Star prompted Atkinson's dismissal.
And his firing prompted Mr. Atkinson's soul-searching.
“Yes, I've grown a lot. I've changed a lot as a coach, which is good. I've progressed. I've grown,” Atkinson said. “It’s definitely different than the coach I was when I was in Brooklyn. So, yeah. And all those experiences, the different experiences that I had. [the] The Clippers — the conference finals against the Clippers, and after that — and of course Golden State and the championship in '22.
“And then this summer, I had the experience of being in the Olympics. That was kind of my philosophy, how much experience can I get in this league? That's when I was fired in Brooklyn. That was part of my thought process afterwards, I was like, “Oh, yeah.” I was a little surprised. And you think, “Okay, how can I improve this?” And luckily I felt I made the right decision. ”
Admittedly mean-spirited, Atkinson is clearly a surly New Yorker.
He earned a hard-driving reputation in Brooklyn, but after one year with the Clippers and three years with the Warriors, he has now learned to coach with a lighter mind.
“[I’m] I’ve become more patient and more of a manager,” Atkinson said. “[In] Brooklyn, I was a real coach. As it was his first time coaching, he was really passionate about teaching. We're trying to make sure every shootaround, every practice is perfect. That's my experience with Steve [Nash] and thailand [Lue]and my international experience with other coaches had more of a sense of the bigger picture. I've gotten better at managing the locker room and players, and I don't feel stressed out over trivial things like I used to. I think that comes with age. ”
Would the 57-year-old Atkinson have gotten to that point in Brooklyn if they hadn't fired him?
Could he have made the same improvement if they had given him a year with Durant and Irving?
“That's a great question. I can't answer that. I don't have a crystal ball. It's strange,” Atkinson said. “But I do know that the way it played out was almost a perfect scenario in terms of my growth. Would I have gotten there otherwise? That's an unknown. In another life. I’d like to play that role.”
Nets coach Jordi Fernandez returns to Cleveland after serving as the Cavs' development coach and spending three years in Canton, two of them as head coach.
New Orleans star Zion Williamson has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain. The Nets will play the Pelicans on Monday.
