Cavs Insider

Kenny Atkinson Shares Touching Moment With Cavaliers Team After Winning COTY

Cleveland Cavaliers first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson received the NBA Coach of the Year Award ahead of their Game 2 matchup with the Indiana Pacers
Spencer German|
Feb 20, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson during the first half against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Feb 20, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson during the first half against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

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Cleveland Cavaliers

Kenny Atkinson received his NBA Coach of the Year award on Tuesday, ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers Game 2 matchup with the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

In a touching moment shared on the Cavaliers' social media accounts, Atkinson was quick to deflect the credit away from him and to the players who helped him secure the award following a historic season for the franchise.

"You know what this comes down to? Comes down to you guys, the players," Atkinson shared during a touching moment with his team following shootaround. "Koby [Altman] put an amazing team together. We're just thankful, man. Thankful to be a part of this group. Thankful for your sacrifices. It starts with the players."

With Atkinson at the helm, the Cavs pieced together a memorable 64-win season, that included incredible 15-0 start to the campaign. It also included a 16-game win streak after the new year.

64 wins goes down as the second most in franchise history as Cleveland easily secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Atkinson was also responsible for turning the Cavaliers into an offensive juggernaut, with the league's top offensive rating of 121.0.

Cleveland's first-year head coach beat out former Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who helped turn the Piston into a playoff team after finishing with the worst record in the NBA one year prior, and Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets.

Atkinson joined star forward Evan Mobley in bringing home one of the NBA's top end-of-season awards. Mobley was named Defensive Player of the Year last week.

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Spencer German
SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally. 

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