Under new coach Kenny Atkinson, the Cleveland Cavaliers have surged to a historic 15-0 record, which impressed no less than NBA legend and analyst Charles Barkley. For context, the 15-0 Cavs are only the fourth team in NBA history to start 15-0–the three prior teams, including the 73-9 Warriors, also reached the NBA Finals, boding well for Atkinson’s team. On the other hand, Charles Barkley also roasted Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for replacing Atkinson with Steve Nash as coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
“[Three] or 4 years ago, we were bragging about Kenny Atkinson doing a great job in Brooklyn… Then [Durant] and [Irving] came and kicked him off the ship… This guy knows how to coach,” Sir Charles said on the latest episode of Inside the NBA, as shared by ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
“3 or 4 years ago, we were bragging about Kenny Atkinson doing a great job in Brooklyn… Then Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving came and kicked him off the ship… This guy knows how to coach.”
— Charles Barkley
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/12BFoVo4v9
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 19, 2024
Charles Barkley on the Nets’ implosion
Looking back on the Brooklyn Nets’ Big Three saga, maybe Charles Barkley had a point, even though Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving may not have directly booted Kenny Atkinson off the team.
Earlier, the Nets had begun a slow rebuilding process after their weird and predictably failed experiment with aging superstars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, and “Iso” Joe Johnson.
After the Big Three Heat manhandled them in the 2014 playoffs and the Atlanta Hawks eliminated them in six games in 2015, the team figured it was time to cut their losses, tearing down the team and choosing to develop young players.
For the rebuild, Atkinson had led a scrappy team featuring a younger Jarrett Allen and a D’Angelo Russell who’d lost favor with the Lakers and was now looking for a new home, among others.
After a sorry 28-54 record in his first year as coach, Atkinson brought the Nets to the playoffs in 2019, though they lost in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers. Still, it was a promising sign for a relatively young coach.
That is, however, until Kyrie Irving signed with the Nets in 2019, and Kevin Durant joined him a season after suffering an Achilles injury in the 2019 NBA Finals. After that, the Nets traded for James Harden in 2021, and a new Big Three was born.
Stars over winning
Now with three of the league’s best players, the Nets bowed to their star power and followed their every whim. First to go was Atkinson, whom the team replaced with rookie coach Steve Nash.
Back then, fans believed Nash was a coach in name only, but it was really Irving and Durant’s team. Going by Irving’s comments that the Nets “didn’t really have a coach,” they might have been right.
Still, what did the Big Three in Brooklyn accomplish other than playoff disappointment? If Kenny Atkinson’s Cavaliers follow their precedents and reach the NBA Finals, he’d have accomplished more in one season than the Big Three ever had in their short stint together.
What would have happened if Durant, Irving, and Harden had Atkinson as their coach in Brooklyn?
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