Kyrie Irving: Kenny Atkinson ‘was great for the group that he served’

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When the Brooklyn Nets parted ways with Kenny Atkinson as their head coach, everyone looked to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as the driving forces behind the decision.

Both are stars. They have an influence on team decisions.

During the second of a two-part interview on “The ETCs with Kevin Durant,” Kyrie Irving addressed the accusations and Atkinson’s departure:

“I want to give a shout out to Kenny Atkinson because some people came out and was like, ‘Yo, Ky and KD got Kenny fired.’ And look, that was completely false,” Irving said on his teammate’s new show. “Listen, Kenny was great for the group that he served, and I was very appreciative of what he was giving us throughout the season when we were playing. We always heard how great Nash was or saw how great Nash was as a player, but also when you get to know him as a person, you understand why he can co-exist with us because we don’t need somebody to come in and put their coaching philosophy on everything that we’re doing and change up the wheel and, ‘Yo, you guys need to start doing this,’ and we start running on the first day of practice, and it’s just like, “No.’

“I want somebody, I need somebody that’s going to understand that I am a human being first. I serve my community and where I come from first, and then basketball is something I come and do every single day because I love [it], and also I have the right ingredients and people around me to come in and do my job at a high level, and I know that they will hold me accountable to that level. It’s no disrespect to Kenny or any other coaches I played with, it’s just Steve coming in at this moment and then following up with putting together a great coaching core was going to make us more successful.”