I get the feeling most people envision this is how Atkinson will handle KPJ on the first day of practice.
KPJ is definitely channeling that scruffy bad attitude kid from the movie. The only thing missing is a bowl of soup!
Just hire him or Udoka… they better move fast because if Philly or Denver opens up we might lose out to those teams.
He never had an issue with Kyrie and Kyrie only played 20 games that year he was fired. Durant never played for him. Concern is the reporting said that the current active players on the team that year and not Kyrie or KD wanted him out.
Rather have Udoka or Nurse if they are available. We need a coach that will deliver instant credibility
Coaches absolutely get players in line and set them straight. Now, you will have some players that will fight the coach on what they want to do, but generally players who get away with that are superstar players. But plenty of coaches have had a hard ass or very disciplined approach with players and it has worked with varying degrees of success... Pop, Larry Brown, Pat Riley, Spoelstra, JVG, Thibbs ect... If KPJ is still having issues he's either going to be set straight or he'll be out of the league because he's not on the superstar level to get away with stuff. With Stars if you're going to win you have to find some common ground
I'm a fan of a coach with championship experience for phase 3 of the rebuild but I'll take them early, Nurse etc. Atkinson has proven he can take a team from terrible to competitive and he sounds like he's learned from Kerr and the Golden State culture. Depends on our draft pick and free agents for the final roster but I'm good with him as well for phase 2 or if he overachieves.
It’s interesting because if you read all the reporting on his firing a few things seemed to have transpired before he got fired. This is from reports that included both his and player and Sean Mark’s quotes to the media. There were also sources with some of this info. In summary: -Aktinson preached and shaped the culture and identity of that young team before 19-20 season and ran it like a college team -His voice didn’t resonate with players anymore in 19-20 when he got fired and he admitted this -He lost a few of the new players in the locker room including Kyrie and Durant and received push back -Durant did not think Nets had winning habits and voiced it in a team meeting -He recognized the difficulties of coaching stars -Sean Marks admitted after firing that Atkinson’s voice is no longer loud in the locker room -Jacque Vaughn remarked that coaches have to adjust and listen to their 1-4 players Based on these reports it seems like there was a disconnect with him and vets or new crop of players added in 19-20 including Deandre Jordan, Kyrie, Durant, Prince, Wilson Chandler etc. But maybe he lost some of his original core players as well. He benched all of his starters in one game and got into a heated back and forth with players. Ultimately the inability to adjust to vets and get the best from that 19-20 team cost him his job I believe. Considering how players don’t necessarily respond to a more rigid style these days and how the Rockets might bring in Harden or other stars and vets he may not be the best fit for this team. Not to mention he would have to find a way to work with KPJ who was almost out the NBA but responded to the love and mentorship approach from Silas. Interesting
I’m not going to lie - Kenny Atkinson is a weird dude. He has a quirky personality but is usually well liked because he works hard, treats all his players the same and will give playing time based on performance. What he won’t do is deal with a GM picking his staff, trying to play sideline coach or dictating who he plays. He is like JVG in that he wants to coach and the GM can GM. He would probably be a solid hire. He is more of a teacher and structured guy than X’s and O’s. He gets guys to play hard for him.
He is your classic hard-ass over-achiever that can teach really well and run a structured and predictable practice and program. The problem is that veterans don’t want to work as hard as Atkinson expects… eventually stars and veterans get sick of his egalitarian style and just want to sit on the stationary bike during practice and post on Instagram.
Do you think all 3 of the guys you listed will command high dollar coach's salary? I would be surprised if that happened. They all come with their own baggage. Atkins was like 118-190 as a head coach , nurse would be coming off being fired and we all know about udoka. Not saying they will be dirt cheap but don't see them breaking the bank either
Stone doesn’t care about details in anything he does as GM and that is a huge part of my problem with him. He has a thumbnail sketch of what he wants to do and that is it.
Good post there, but there's something wrong with these conclusions. Kenny Atkinson lost Kyrie and KD to Steve Nash in what is universally now considered a massive blunder by Kyrie and KD. Steve Nash was not an NBA calibre head coach and his confidence winning the room duped Kyrie and KD into hiring him. Atkinson got hired by the GOAT and turned it down. Look at his freedom and ability to be entertaining on a podcast. That's charisma. That's what Pop does too. Nick Nurse won a title with Kawhi and Kawhi walked without blinking. That's the equivalent of Atkinson winning the title with KD and Kyrie then losing them to free agency. Masai is a GM most would love to play for. The roster was perfect and retainable. This is as close to an F as you can get in that situation. Further it doesn't look like Nurse is commanding the Raptors at all after Kawhi left. Nurse is still one of my top choices, but I was surprised to see you describe him as the one that will command attention in a room. I've never seen him do that, even in a press conference he's not a good performer. He's the nerd in this group, and I'm ok with nerds because no coach is perfect and you can win a title with an angry nerd at the helm (Spo, Kerr, etc). Udoka has never proven anything in this regard. Is there something you know we don't? How much of the locker room is going to listen to Udoka when he tells them to focus on their skills when he was busted risking the team's title run for some cooch on the side? Sounds more like a Danuel House type of person who works hard on camera only. Of the 3 I find it impossible not to rank Atkinson first by a mile in this category.
