NBA Players Vote Cavaliers’ Kenny Atkinson As Second-Best Coach In League

NBA players have voted Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson as the second-best coach in the league. 

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault got the most first-place votes in The Athletic’s poll. 

“Atkinson, who may well win the COY award, left his post as a Warriors assistant last summer and led the Cavs to an Eastern Conference-best 64-18 mark that was a 16-game improvement from the season prior. The players noticed, giving him a third-place finish that was a significant improvement from his only other showing in the poll (ninth in 2019, when he was head coach of the Brooklyn Nets).”

The Cavaliers had the best record in the East this season. They were also first in the NBA in points per game and offensive rating. 

Atkinson is in his first year with the Cavaliers, who are up 1-0 against the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. He has a great relationship with all of his players, which is why Cleveland has been a machine this year on both ends of the court. 

During a recent interview with NBA reporter Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell spoke highly of Atkinson and assistant coach Johnnie Bryant.

“Obviously, Kenny and I have a great relationship,” Mitchell told Spears. “[Bryant is] a guy that’s always keeping me [honest]. Even when I have stretches where I play well, he will be like, ‘No, you ain’t done nothing yet. There is always room to grow.’ It’s always keeping yourself [humble].

“I give Coach Kenny and Johnnie Bryant a lot of credit, just because there is always a challenge. There’s always something. Never satisfied. There’s always something more, and [Bryant is] probably the guy that gets the most out of me.”

The Cavaliers are trying to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2018.