NBA
Reports around the league say that Kenny Atkinson is a finalist for Toronto’s head coaching vacancy
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated08 Jun 2023
This offseason, a number of teams fired their head coach, but have already made a new hire. The Toronto Raptors are now one of those teams. They fired head coach Nick Nurse after missing out on the playoffs and have yet to find his replacement. Reports around the league say that Kenny Atkinson is a finalist for Toronto’s head coaching vacancy.
Atkinson’s NBA coaching career started back in 2008-09 with the New York Knicks. He was an assistant with the Knicks for four seasons before becoming an assistant with Atlanta for three seasons. In 2016-17, Atkinson got his first and only chance so far to be a head coach in the NBA.
He was the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets for four seasons and finished with a 118-190 record. Since being fired by Brooklyn in the middle of the 2019-20 season, he’s been an assistant with the Warriors. This would be the second time this offseason that Atkinson is a finalist for a head coaching position. He was a finalist for Milwaukee.
Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson recently interviewed in Toronto for the Raptors’ coaching vacancy, league sources say.
I wrote here about several more candidates in Toronto’s hard-to-read search to fill the league’s last open coaching vacancy: https://t.co/hv40ioBz2K
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 3, 2023
Kenny Atkinson is a finalist to be the next head coach of the Toronto Raptors
Last offseason, Kenny Atkinson was interviewed to be the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets. He got the job and excepted it, but would change his mind shortly after. Atkinson remained with the Warriors as an assistant coach and is still looking for his next head coaching opportunity.
With the Pistons, 76ers, Bucks, and Suns already finding their next head coach, Atkinson is one of the top remaining candidates left. Monty Williams was hired by Detroit, Adrian Griffin was hired by Milwaukee, Philly signed Nick Nurse, and the Suns hired Frank Vogel.
His competition for to be the next head coach of the Raptors is Sergio Scariolo. He was an assistant coach with Toronto from 2018-2021 and is currently the head coach of an Italian professional team. Adrain Griffin would have likely been a prime candidate for the job, but he was hired by Milwaukee to be their next head coach.
