On Thursday morning, the Cleveland Cavaliers made their first big move of the 2024 NBA offseason. They fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff after 4+ seasons on the job. He took over for John Beilein during the 2019-2020 COVID-19 shortened season and held the position up until today.
It is certainly a peculiar decision as Bickerstaff has helped the team improve every season at the helm. After winning 22 games in his first season, they won 44 and then 51. They have earned the No. 4 seed in two straight NBA Postseasons, losing in the first round to the New York Knicks in 2023 and to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals this year.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping that they can find a head coach that will help them advance deeper into the postseason. According to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, they could already have their sights set on someone.
Following the news of Bickerstaff’s firing, Wojnarowski reported that President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman and General Manager Mike Gansey would start putting a list of candidates together soon. One name is already emerging; Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson.
As Wojnarowski noted, Atkinson was head coach of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016-2020. He oversaw their rebuild and turnaround but he was a casualty during the 2019-20 season after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving joined the team.
In his time with the Nets, he compiled a record of 118-170 in the regular season. Brooklyn had one playoff appearance in 2019, where they were eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Atkinson was an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers for one season before moving on to the Warriors in 2021, where he has been since. He was announced as head coach of the Charlotte Hornets in 2022 but reneged and returned to the Warriors days after the announcement.
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