Kenny Atkinson: The First Interview as Head Coach

Kenny Atkinson: The First Interview as Head Coach

Kenny ainson welcome to Cleveland well thank you thank you very much what enticed you the most about this particular opportunity it always starts with the players the NBA you know the NBA starts with the players um you know incredible roster that Kobe and and uh his group have built I obviously have some some history with with some of the players on the roster um I’ve competed with a lot of the um competed against a lot of the players here and you know being with different teams um and then uh the culture that you know you in this league long enough you know which which organizations are are kind of building it the right way and and this is one of them and and uh it’s one of one of a handful of them so I I knew if I ever get an opportunity to to go for this job I’m going to go for it I’m going to be aggressive uh so just just like pinching myself like you know really here it’s real um you know part of part of a a team on the rise which is pretty cool you mentioned the culture that you’re in some ways inheriting that’s already yeah those building blocks are already there the roster and you’ve talked so much about how important it is to talk to every player as you kind of develop the identity of the team but you already have a sense for for what you do want to start out with the identity of this team to be yes it it starts with def def like do not lose a defensive identity you know seventh in defensive efficiency this past year so um we got all the pieces start obviously starts with Evan and and Ja kind of patrolling the lane and they are they’re two of the best in the league and then we got really good perimeter Defender so keeping that identity and then um you know making tweaks uh offensively what can what what can we tweak there what can we get a little better I like you said in the beginning like this isn’t some like remake like all of a sudden you have to like Oh Come In Here change everything keep keep your keep the base a a lot of the things already they’re already doing well and then and then start where can we start making gains on the margins and that’s tactically that’s Player Development um that’s in the performance room like all this all the things around the organization just just keep getting better um the the results the results will come I just have that that that philosophy like you said while it’s not thing where it’s it’s an overhaul here one of the words that Kobe Alman continually used with you was Innovative Innovative approach um and you’ve learned from also some great coaches I think of like Mike Danton who thought outside the box right what are you already kind of thinking about in terms of how you can bring that outside the box or Innovative approach to this team yeah well starts with you know having a front office that buys into that philosophy right like because it’s got to be it’s got to be unified you know kind of down the line so you get you get the front office that Embraces that then you bring in a coaching staff with that similar philosophy um and then I think you can you know it trickles down to the players and and I I think sometimes the next step is being Innovative taking risks um doing something different defensively at the end of the game where maybe you know you playing manto man the whole game boom you go to a Zone you go to a half court trap or um and and same thing on the offensive side you know figuring out how how to be a little more creative um in creating opportun best opportunities for your players I am a uh huge analytics person I I study him hard I I I kind of understand you know uh and that’s not only from a team sense but also from an individual player sense like where how can how can we get this guy better in a certain area see his numbers Hey with a Rim finishing or Corner three-point percentage how do we how do we get that better from a Player Development standpoint knowing that that’s going to help the team get better and then from a team concept like okay stylistically are we seeking the high value shots are we defending the high value shots so I um I think there’s so many moving pieces you know how this is there’s so many um um there’s so many pieces of the pie that you got to connect I think that’s a strength of mine connecting all those all those areas and and and then getting getting it to the hole and getting the chemistry right and I think that’s again another way you take take the next step you’ve been around so many great basketball Minds we mentioned Mike D Tony already you know learning from Mike pouser you know being head coach of the net and then you know tyo and Steve Kerr but when you think about how are you a different guy walking in today taking over as head coach the Cavs and you were taken over as head coach the Nets what eight years ago now yeah and I’m I’m glad I’m glad I’ve had that kind of um what what do they say when you travel you you you improve right like like traveling you know this this kind of range of experiences like that’s really and I love we my family love like we love the adventure part of the NBA you say well you’ve been tra you moved around a lot you’ve well I’ve moved around a lot but it’s’ been enriching experiences from a from a basketball standpoint but also the culture piece and I take that all the way back to my my European kind of background as a player and Coach like I’ve just I’ve seen a lot of different ways of doing it now to have this opportunity to use all those kind of tools in the toolbox to to to help a our players get better you know B that the team get better and organizationally like right like can you you know there’s there’s things culturally I’ve seen that that that that that could help um and and really looking forward to collaborating with the front office on on that that type of stuff too you had the opportunity to already coach Caris oft Jared Allen how much did that influence your decision not only to come here but what what are your feelings surrounding getting to coach them again at a different stage in both of your careers both as a coach and them as players we all have favorites right my mom had favorites those guys are in the favorite you know favorite category 17 years in the NBA incredible you know you’ve been around them incredibly human incredible competitors um incredible basketball incredible families um and that makes you gives you kind of a comfort level right like coming into the situation you have people you um you feel comfortable with that that being said they’re favors but they know I I’m going to coach them hard and I’m going to you know help them helped him uh uh get to the next level but um you know that that again that that it’s a you know another part of the reason I’m I’m so excited about that this job coaching those guys again some former players have described you as really detail oriented tough intense also caring and coach that allows you to make mistakes and and grow and learn from those mistakes how do you describe Kenny ainson yeah I think the best advice ever got was my my high school coach told me you know if you’re going to do this you got to be yourself like be authentic and I know that sounds like well yeah be authentic but that’s again and you’ve had all these influence you are you gonna be Mike buo are you gonna be Steve C I’m not Steve cerr I’m not Tylo right and so being your authentic self with with with with all that um but it’s all those things like but I’m you know I’m not going to just all a sudden not being an intense coach or or coach guys hard or get away from My Player Development background I’m I’m like almost double down kind of double down on my strengths and then with the help of uh you know like Kobe and and I told those guys and you’re like I want to be coach too right I want I want feedback I want feedback from the players and and that’s where you know this can shift you know a bit like how is this because the best teams are player Le at the end of the day so how are we shifting that where you know maybe in Brooklyn it was kind of me kind of sitting a tone most days it’s like man you guys let’s shift this where where you guys are are getting more and more ownership and I can maybe kind of step back each day and and I saw that with Steve cerr That Was His Brilliant kind of strategy he was willing even a guy with nine championships was willing to to step back put the players forward put them first um and and give them real real say in the direction of the team lastly Kenny transition me to then Donovan Mitchell who you’ve had to prepare against for so many years including preparing against him in the playoffs which is a different beast in the regular season now you get to prepare alongside him using that guidance that Steve CER for example helped you with you know what what are your thoughts about that well he’s already already asked for film on on like my how my Brooklyn teams hey I want game for the play like’s like this guy is like you know so you’re obviously dealing with someone who’s super passionate he’s detailed um he’s going to do his homework so um that’s a that’s great for me right like like that challenge where we’re we’re going to be partnering in this thing we’re going to hey I’m going to run delay backside and he’s going say well maybe we go delay strong side and that that’ll be better I’m like you know if I believe in it and and it makes sense like boom we’re you know we can go in that direction so we’re we’re going to have a we’ve already started the conversation like two-hour lunch we’re talking we got the you know salt and pepper shaker and out there and putting people in position and uh I’m going to Value his um his opinion on the roster too how hey how can we get ja in the best position how can we get Evan where should we you know on this play where do we put Evan what’s the spacing look like that’s that’s my that’s been my Evolution as a coach I’m going to really I’m going to really lean him lean on him uh as a partner in this Kenny thank you so much for taking the time we also know you’ve got busy things of being an assistant coach for the French national team so we really appreciate it I’m on a flight to Paris tonight at 9: so uh you know look look looking forward but looking forward to get back here and and and and and beginning this J Journey so I’m I’m I’m really excited they’ll be here before we know it all right

The newest Cavaliers Head Coach, Kenny Atkinson, spoke with sideline reporter Serena Winters on Monday afternoon at Cleveland Clinic Courts, as Atkinson was formally introduced.