Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson is a head teaching candidate — once more.
Golden State granted the Houston Rockets permission to interview Atkinson for his or her vacant head coach place, in accordance with a number of studies.
Atkinson appeared set to depart the Warriors after final season to take the top coach gig with the Charlotte Hornets. However finally, after the Warriors received the 2022 NBA title, he determined to not go away San Francisco and the Dubs.
Final summer season, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr mentioned he wanted Atkinson as a conduit between Golden State’s rising analytics division and Kerr himself.
“He’s very analytically pushed, and I believe the actual with analytics is the way you apply it to the courtroom, and it's a must to type of work out course of info and the way it can translate to successful basketball video games,” Kerr mentioned earlier than the 2022 NBA Draft.
“It’s not a straightforward factor to do. There’s so many numbers, and Kenny is among the uncommon coaches who actually has an excellent really feel for the numbers and the way these numbers translate.”
Earlier than turning into a Warriors assistant, Atkinson coached the Nets in 2019 to their first playoff berth since 2015 and stepped down midseason after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving joined the group.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania each reported about Atkinson’s interview to return with Houston. The Rockets will even interview Phoenix assistant Kevin Younger, Toronto assistant Adrian Griffin and former head coaches James Borrego, Frank Vogel and Ime Udoka.
As soon as the Warriors’ high foe out West, Houston has fallen right into a rebuild mode after buying and selling away James Harden within the fall of 2020. This season, the Rockets completed 22-60, tied for the second-worst document within the NBA with San Antonio (solely Detroit’s 17-65 was worse) and determined to not decide up head coach Stephen Silas’ fourth-year possibility.
They've constructed a younger core by the draft, starring guard Jalen Inexperienced (2021’s second general decide), middle Alperen Sengun (taken sixteenth general in 2021) and ahead Jabari Smith Jr. (2022’s third general choice). Houston will undoubtedly be hoping the NBA Draft Lottery falls their method to have the ability to add French sensation Victor Wenbanyama to their core, too.
All of that may very well be engaging for a potential coach like Atkinson, who has been closely concerned within the growth of Warriors’ ahead Jonathan Kuminga.
Atkinson and the Warriors will face former Golden State assistant Mike Brown and the Sacramento Kings within the first spherical of the NBA playoffs, with Recreation 1 arising this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT in Sacramento.