Cleveland Cavaliers forward Georges Niang recently praised the team’s newest head coach — Kenny Atkinson — and his knack for communicating with players up and down the roster.
“I think, overall, the job that Kenny’s done with having great dialogue with each and every player — it’s not just one,” Niang said. “For the most part, usually coaches come and talk to their star players, and that’s kind of it. So, Kenny’s done a great job of having dialogue with everyone and what he expects out of everyone, what he expects when you come into the building and the goals that we set forth and have for this year. Obviously, we’re gunning to win a championship and progressing towards that every single day, and that takes work. You wouldn’t believe the hours that Kenny’s already in there working before we get in there to start workouts and different things like that.
“So, it’s been impressive, but I think it’s exciting ’cause people feel the energy and the work that he’s going to put in to figure out ways to get creative to get the best out of us individually, but more importantly, get the best out of us as a team.”
In Niang’s first season in Cleveland — the 2023-24 campaign — J.B. Bickerstaff was the team’s head coach. But not long after the Cavaliers lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, Cleveland opted to part ways with Bickerstaff and replace him with Atkinson.
Atkinson spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors franchises prior to accepting the Cavaliers’ job. He won a title in the year 2022 as a member of Steve Kerr’s coaching staff in Golden State.
While the 57-year-old has experience as an assistant coach in the NBA dating back to the late 2000s, Atkinson has served as the head coach for only one team other in the league — the Brooklyn Nets.
Atkinson led the Nets from the start of the 2016-17 season up until nearly the end of the truncated 2019-20 campaign. He coached Brooklyn to a record of 118-190 during that span, and under his leadership, the Nets qualified for the 2019 NBA Playoffs.
Only the future holds the answer to the question of whether Niang will see his role with the Cavaliers change compared to last season now that there’s a new face leading the team.
However, Niang was one of the Cavaliers’ top reserves under Bickerstaff. He played in all 82 games in the 2023-24 regular season and averaged 9.4 points on 44.9 percent shooting from the floor and 37.6 percent from 3-point range coupled with 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.
Niang was one of the better 3-point shooters on the team to boot, as he ranked sixth in 3-point percentage and fifth in 3s made per contest.
Hopefully, Atkinson’s chops as a communicator will translate into a successful stint for Niang and the Cavaliers in the 2024-25 season. Cleveland will tip off the new regular season when the team takes on the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 23.
