One of the NBA’s new head coaches is a former Spider

Former University of Richmond men’s basketball player Kenny Atkinson, ‘90, was named head coach of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers in late June. 

After spending the last three years as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, where he won a championship in 2022, Atkinson will get his second chance as a head coach in the NBA.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” Atkinson said in his introductory press conference on July 1. “I think we all know the talent that is on this team, the culture they’ve built, which is what really intrigued me about this job to begin.”  

Atkinson was formerly at the helm of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 2020, the team for which fellow former Spider Jacob Gilyard, ‘22, currently plays on a two-way contract for. 

Before his stint with the Nets, Atkinson held assistant coach positions with the New York Knicks from 2008 to 2012 and the Atlanta Hawks from 2012 to 2016. Between his time with the Nets and Warriors, he was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers from 2020 to 2021. 

“[Atkinson] deserves this opportunity,” ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith said of Atkinson on his show First Take on June 24. “He’s an outstanding basketball mind. For anybody in the NBA that covers the NBA, they will tell you that that’s what they hear about him religiously.” 

Atkinson, who was inducted into the Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010, averaged 12.4 points per game across his four seasons at UR. During his senior season, Atkinson averaged a career-high 18.9 points per game. He finished his career with 1,549 points all-time. 

Throughout his tenure as a Spider, Atkinson garnered two First Team All-Colonial Athletic Association honors, as well as two CAA All-Tournament Team honors, all occurring during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. 

Atkinson will forever be heralded as one of the most accomplished players in UR men’s basketball history, as not only does he sit fifth on the school’s all-time assists list, but he also helped lead the Spiders to two NCAA Tournaments in 1988 and 1990. 

In 1988, the Spiders advanced all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, knocking off the Bob Knight-led Indiana University Hoosiers in the Round of 64 and Georgia Tech in the Round of 32. Atkinson scored in double figures in two of the three NCAA Tournament games that postseason.

Two seasons later in 1990, the Spiders fell to the Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley-led Duke University Blue Devils in the Round of 64. Atkinson tallied 12 points and 8 rebounds in the game. 

After the Spiders made two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1984 and 1986, Atkinson played a large part in continuing to put UR on the map as a competitive basketball program in the country. 

Following his career at UR, Atkinson played minor league basketball across the country before leaving the states for international play. Atkinson played in several countries over his 14-year professional career, including Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, to name a few. 

Atkinson is just one of several former Spiders as of the last couple months to permeate the NBA’s news cycle. 

Tony Dobbins, ‘04, and Jermaine Bucknor, ‘06, both won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics earlier this summer on June 17. Dobbins serves as an assistant coach and Bucknor is a player enhancement coach. Both Dobbins and Bucknor, like Atkinson, went undrafted coming out of UR. 

Like Dobbins and Bucknor and the Celtics, Atkinson inherits a potential Eastern Conference championship contender in the Cavaliers, who finished last season 48-34 with a second round exit in the NBA playoffs. 

“[Atkinson’s] the right fit and the right match for this roster and this group,” Cavaliers Vice President of Operations Koby Altman said in Atkinson’s introductory press conference. “And some really exciting basketball is upon us here.” 

Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.