Report: Draymond Green among Warriors players who reached out to Cavs after Kenny Atkinson hire

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reported on Friday that Golden State Warriors defensive ace Draymond Green was one of several players on the team who reached out to the Cleveland Cavaliers after their decision to hire Kenny Atkinson to become their newest head coach became public.

“Sources say a handful of Golden State players, including Draymond Green, reached out to various Cavs players and executives to express their support and confidence in Atkinson after the news went public Monday morning,” Fedor wrote.

The Cavaliers’ choice to hire Atkinson came after a report earlier this month indicated that he and New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego were “neck and neck” in the race to become the 24th head coach in the history of the franchise.

Atkinson has worked for five NBA teams — the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers and Warriors — thus far since his coaching career in the league began with the Knicks in the 2008-09 season.

He spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with Green and the Warriors.

Atkinson’s first season on Steve Kerr’s coaching staff couldn’t have gone much better. Golden State won 53 games during the 2021-22 regular season, the third-best record of any team in the Western Conference behind only the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns.

Then, the Warriors carried over their regular-season success into the 2022 NBA Playoffs and went on to win the title. Golden State defeated the Denver Nuggets, Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics on its path to a championship.

Earlier in his career, Atkinson got a taste of what it’s like to serve as a head coach at the NBA level with the Brooklyn Nets. He spent four seasons leading the Nets and finished with a 118-190 regular-season record coaching the team.

In three of Atkinson’s four years leading the Nets from the sidelines, Brooklyn finished below .500. But the one exception came during the 2018-19 season, when Brooklyn won 42 of its 82 regular-season contests and qualified for the playoffs.

Hopefully, Atkinson’s experience as the head coach of the Nets will aid him at times in his new gig as the head coach of the Cavaliers. He has also earned a reputation for player development that could do wonders for Cleveland.