The Cleveland Cavaliers, coached by Spaniard Kenny Atkinson, have made an impressive start to the season with 12 wins and 0 losses that has not been seen in the NBA since the Golden State Warriors in the 2015-16 season.
Ahead of these Cavaliers are the 14-0 of the Dallas Mavericks (2002-2003) and Boston Celtics (1957-1958), the 15-0 of the Houston Rockets (1993-1994) and Washington Capitols (1948-1949) and the record of 24-0 of the Warriors (2015-2016).
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“It’s great to be part of history,” said Donovan Mitchell after the historic victory over the Chicago Bulls.
I trust everyone, from the first to the 15th player
Kenny Atkinson, the architect of this historic Cavaliers team led by Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, has shared one of the keys to the Cleveland franchise’s success: “I trust everyone from the first to the 15th player”.
Calderon analyzes Kenny Atkinson’s Cavaliers
Jose Manuel Calderon, former Cavaliers player and current advisor to the Cleveland team, analyzed with Jose Ajero in ‘Play Basket’ the success of the Cavs: “They didn’t expect it. Many things can happen during these first weeks and it’s not happening to them. One day Donovan Mitchell doesn’t show up, then other alternatives appear. The team is well built and with a really spectacular firmness.”
The team is well built and really spectacularly firm.
On the role of the Spaniard, Atkinson, the Extremaduran point guard explained on the program ‘El Larguero‘ of the Cadena SER that “Kenny has brought more tranquility, flexibility in attack, more players contributing… Every day some player has given us something to win and that is the key”.
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Kenneth Neil Atkinson was born on June 2, 1967, in Northport, New York.
As a player, he was a 6ft 1in point guard who was educated at Richmond University.
After not being selected in the NBA Draft, he played professionally from 1993 to 2004 in Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands… and Spain.
In his four years playing in Spain, he played for Canoe, Zamora, Salamanca (with which he made his ACB debut) and Calpe Aguas Valencia.
Four years in which he met his wife, a Spaniard, and obtained dual nationality, thus becoming the first coach with Spanish nationality to sit as head coach on an NBA bench.
“He’s a real fan of our country,” Calderon revealed of Atkinson.
In his NBA coaching career, he has been an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks (2012-2016), Los Angeles Clippers (2020-2021) and Golden State Warriors (2021-2024), and head coach of the Brooklyn Nets (2016-2020) and Cleveland Cavaliers.
On June 28, 2024, the Cavaliers announced the hiring of Spaniard Kenny Atkinson as their head coach.
