Everyone knows the NBA is a player-driven league. That’s far from a secret.
So when a successful team has a head coach who players like, that coach’s job should be safe.
Now, as much as the Brooklyn Nets are very much in the playoff picture this season, they haven’t exactly been successful. But that did not all fall on Kenny Atkinson. He never got the chance to work with Kevin Durant, and he only coached Kyrie Irving for 20 games.
Knowing all of this, one would think Atkinson would get the chance to coach in 2020-21, especially since he was part of the reason Durant liked Brooklyn as a destination.
And if Durant, Brooklyn’s best player, liked Atkinson so much, his job should have been safe enough that he didn’t leave midseason.
Now, this mutual parting of ways was months in the making, as Sean Marks revealed at his press conference on Saturday. While this idea of a mutual separation doesn’t seem believable, Marks’ comments make it seem like Atkinson could tell things weren’t likely to end well for him.
“We’ve both come to realize it ran its course here and you wish it could’ve lasted much, much longer,” Marks said.
A factor in all of this has to be the players. Why else would Marks say, “It’s time for another voice in the locker room.”
Yet Marks stood by his statement: “This didn’t involve the players.” Whether it be directly or indirectly, there’s just no way this can be the case.
If Atkinson lost the locker room after instilling a culture in Brooklyn for years, that development involved the players. More importantly, if Durant and Irving wanted Atkinson here, there are other adjustments the organization could’ve been made to make everything work for the now ex-Nets head coach.
“I think this was a decision that wasn’t even about Kevin, Kyrie,” Marks said as he listed off other players.
There’s just no way that can be the case.