Kenny Atkinson, who guided the Cleveland Cavaliers to the best record in the Eastern Conference at 64-18, was named NBA Coach of the Year on Monday.
It was the first time Atkinson won the award. Atkinson received 59 out of a possible 100 first-place votes. Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff finished second (31 first-place votes), while the Houston Rockets’ Ime Udoka (seven first-place votes) finished third. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Mark Daigneault (two first-place votes), LA Clippers’ Tyronn Lue (one first-place vote) and LA Lakers’ JJ Redick also received votes.
The Cavs had the second-most victories in franchise history and the most wins for a non-LeBron James Cavs team in the franchise’s existence.
Atkinson, 57, spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors under Steve Kerr and took over a team that won 48 games last season.
From the start of the season, Atkinson’s imprint on the team was obvious. The Cavaliers opened with 15 consecutive victories and became just the second team in NBA history to have winning streaks of at least 12 games three times in a season. When they won their 16th consecutive game on March 14, the Cavaliers were 56-10 and well on their way to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Atkinson used depth and the strength of the ‘Core Four’ (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley). He improved the offense without sacrificing defense, and the Cavs were one of three teams to finish in the top eight offensively and defensively. They were first in offense and eighth in defense, scoring 121 points and allowing 111.8 points per 100 possessions for a plus-9.2 net rating, which was third-best in the league.
The Cavs were second in field-goal shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage, and led the league in points per game (121.9).
Before joining Kerr’s staff, Atkinson was an assistant for Ty Lue’s Los Angeles Clippers and was the head coach in Brooklyn for four seasons.
“I think using my experience with those two situations can make me a better coach,” Atkinson said when he got the Cavs job a year ago. “And I sold that to (Cavaliers president of basketball operations) Koby (Altman). I said, ‘I look back and there are so many things I could do better. And then I saw it live, I saw it. I was kind of like: Look, how does Steve do it? How does Ty do it? And I think it’s really going to help me.’
“And I do think one of my strengths is, I think the league is changing, and can you get ahead of the league? What’s happening? How quickly is it happening and how are we shifting? And I think me and my staff, that’ll be a strength of ours. We will be able to be right with the league or be a step ahead.”