Cavaliers’ Kenny Atkinson Wins Silver Medal At 2024 Olympics

Cleveland’s head coach served as an assistant coach for the French Men’s National Basketball Team at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

April 17, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson during the second quarter in game two of the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. | Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

This offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers had to wait a while to officially introduce their new head coach, Kenny Atkinson.

This was reportedly because the longtime NBA coach was in Paris with the French Men’s National Basketball Team, who was preparing for the 2024 Summer Olympics. France hired Atkinson as an assistant coach this past December.

He had a strong first Olympics with France, ending up just one game short of a gold medal. The United States defeated the host nation in the 2024 Summer Olympics Gold Medal Game by a final score of 98-87, as the U.S. Men’s National Basketball Team earned its fifth consecutive gold medal.

The Americans were led by Head Coach Steve Kerr and point guard Stephen Curry, who made a game-high eight three-pointers. Atkinson worked with these two for the past three NBA seasons while serving as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors.

A basketball coach pointing his finger while wearing a black jacket. — April 17, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson during the second quarter in game two of the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. | Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

In his first Olympics with the French Men’s National Team, Atkinson coached nine players with NBA experience, including reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

The French squad went 2-1 in group play, defeating Brazil and Japan while falling to Germany. However, after defeating Canada in the quarterfinals, France avenged its group play loss to Germany with a 73-69 semifinal victory this past Thursday.

Cavaliers fans will be hopeful that Atkinson’s recent coaching success on one of basketball’s premier stages could be a sign of things to come for the Wine and Gold.