7 Lakers head coach candidates to replace Darvin Ham
By Tyler Watts
5. Kenny Atkinson
Atkinson is another college and international player with NBA head coaching experience. He led the Nets out of a rebuild and made a surprise playoff appearance in 2019. Just one year later, Atkinson was out as head coach. Brooklyn signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and the two stars wanted to bring in a different leader.
Atkinson has been garnering head coaching interest since his Nets departure. He immediately jumped back in as an assistant coach first for one season with the Clippers before spending the last three under Steve Kerr in Golden State. Atkinson was expected to be the Hornets head coach in 2022 but decided to stay with the Warriors.
His three years in the Bay Area give Atkinson plenty of experience coaching superstars. Despite being a finalist in 2022 for the Lakers gig, he has no ties to LeBron James. With the NBA’s all-time leading scorer having so much leverage this summer, would the purple and gold sign a head coach without a previous affiliation to their star?
Kenny Atkinson will be a hot name on the coaching market again this summer, and he will be joined by a former Spurs assistant and WNBA legend if she is interested in making the jump to the NBA.