Ty Jerome says Kenny Atkinson goes ‘out of his way’ to empower ‘every single person’ on Cavs roster

The early returns on newcomer Kenny Atkinson’s stint as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers have been incredibly promising. Not only do the players and coaches in the organization reportedly think very highly of him, but his modus operandi has helped the Cavaliers stack up wins this season.

After the Cavaliers won 48 games under previous head coach J.B. Bickerstaff a season ago, Cleveland is on pace to finish the 2024-25 campaign with nearly 70 wins. In addition, the team is in possession of the best record in the league at this juncture at 22-4, though the Boston Celtics are just 1.5 games behind Cleveland in the standings.

Cavs guard Ty Jerome spoke highly of Atkinson’s coaching chops and implied that he has forged relationships with players up and down the roster.

Maybe no player on the team has benefitted more from Atkinson’s approach than Jerome.

A season ago, he was limited to just two appearances with Cleveland thanks to an ankle injury. Fast forward to current day, and Jerome is enjoying a special year while playing with a ton of confidence in his second season as a Cavalier.

He’s averaging a career-high 10.9 points per game and is putting the ball through the bottom of the net with remarkable efficiency. Impressively, 54.7 percent of his shots from the field and 46.5 percent of his 3-point attempts have found the bottom of the net through 25 games played and two starts this season.

There was a short stretch back in November where Jerome was arguably playing as well as anyone on the team. In a four-game span late in the month, he scored 24-plus points in three games (and 10 in the only other game) and dropped a season-high 29 points against the New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 20.

Right now, he is looking to bounce back. He is on the heels of a dud of a performance against the Washington Wizards on Dec. 13. He scored just two points in a game the Cavaliers won by 10.

He will look to have a better offensive showing when the Cavs play their next game on Dec. 16 against the Brooklyn Nets.