His players said it openly during the warm-up: they wanted to give him this victory, as they had done earlier in the season against the Warriors. The Cavs did not fail in their promise made to their coach, Kenny Atkinson, with this authoritarian success in Brooklyn (+29).
“ It's weird (laugh) ! It's pretty cool, I felt it. It's human nature. The places you've been, you want to show them that you're good “, says the coach after the meeting in a press conference.
Assistant coach at the Warriors for the last three years, after a year at the Clippers, Kenny Atkinson made his first return to Brooklyn, as coach of the Cavs, where he served for four years. The Nets recruited the Long Island native in 2016, after first experiences as an assistant with the Knicks, then with the Hawks.
With this Nets team still led by Brook Lopez at the time, the technician would experience two very complicated first years: 48 victories for 116 defeats.
Bad for your health
“ I was a little crazy. I was ready to do anything to succeed. I didn't want to fail. I really tried my hardest, but I knew that even after two years in Brooklyn, it was bad for my health “, he confides todaybefore tonight's match.
He adds: “ It almost felt like we were at rock bottom. We are the worst team in the league. There was a desperate desire to progress. » The following year, with the emergence of D'Angelo Russell as an All-Star, the Nets experienced this expected progression to finish in the positive (42v-40d) and in the first round of the playoffs.
The following summer would change everything since Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant arrived, profoundly modifying the internal dynamic and precipitating during the campaign the departure of the “head coach”, who left the Brooklyn scene with 38% of victories in total (118 victories – 190 defeats). Two years later, he climbed to the roof of the NBA by winning the title with the Warriors, alongside Steve Kerr.
“ The journey after Brooklyn really helped me grow as a coach. But I can tell you that I'm competitive, and when you have setbacks, you remember things, right? You are motivated to prove people wrong », he displays.
He is now at the head of the best team in the league, which will play again on the Nets floor on February 20, and is positioned as a big favorite for the trophy for best coach of the year.
