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The Elating Highs and Deflating Lows of Kenny Atkinson’s First Season

By Zach Cronin

Mar 26, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson coaches against the Atlanta Hawks in the third quarter at Philips Arena. The Nets defeated the Hawks 107-92. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson coaches against the Atlanta Hawks in the third quarter at Philips Arena. The Nets defeated the Hawks 107-92. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 16, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets introduce new head coach Kenny Atkinson at HSS Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
May 16, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets introduce new head coach Kenny Atkinson at HSS Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /

Becoming An NBA Head Coach

This piece wouldn’t have had the chance to be written if Atkinson didn’t get this job. It’s tough becoming a head coach in the league, and it’s a position that requires a myriad of intangibles and tangibles that, frankly, not many people have. Atkinson has a job that employs just 29 others, and that’s because the Brooklyn Nets had enough confidence in him to take that risk.

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Atkinson’s last three years as an assistant were spent with the Hawks, where he studied under Mike Budenholzer. Atlanta made the playoffs in each of the three seasons, and Budenholzer is a spawn from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree. Whether anyone knew it or not, Atkinson was soaking in information that got passed down from one of the best coaches in the history of sports. If that’s not enough to warrant a chance being taken, not much is.

With New York, Atkinson was a part of two playoff runs in his latter two years, but he was also Jeremy Lin‘s right-hand man during Linsanity, and the two have had an unshakeable bond ever since.