Former Cavaliers Star Fires Ruthless Shot at Kenny Atkinson

A former Cleveland Cavaliers star has fired a massive shot at head coach Kenny Atkinson.

Mar 19, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson on the sideline during the second quarter Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed toward the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, which comes as a shock to most. As a result, Kenny Atkinson is widely viewed as the favorite for the NBA's Coach of the Year award.

But are we giving too much credit to Atkinson? Former Cavaliers star Carlos Boozer thinks so.

During a recent appearance on ESPN's First Take, Boozer endorsed Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka for Coach of the Year, firing a shot at Atkinson in the process.

“Ime Udoka is the Coach of the Year,” Boozer said. “Nobody’s talking about that. Everybody wants to talk about Cleveland. He (Atkinson) was gifted a team that already had All-Stars on it.”

To add insult to injury, Boozer also named ex-Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff—who has done a marvelous job with the Detroit Pistons this season—as another candidate.

So, is Boozer being fair to Atkinson in his assessment? Probably not, considering that no one viewed the Cavaliers as a top team in the East—let alone the entire league—heading into the 2024-25 campaign.

Remember: last summer, there were legitimate conversations surrounding the potential that Cleveland could trade one of Darius Garland or Jarrett Allen. Heck, some even felt that Donovan Mitchell could get moved.

The fact that Atkinson has taken a team that won 48 games last season and put them in a position to win 60-plus games this year is a major achievement. Yes, the Cavs had a lot of injuries last year, but let's also keep in mind that Cavaliers players clearly weren't fond of Bickerstaff.

They do, however, seem to really embrace Atkinson, and that matters.

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