Kenny Atkinson will return next season as the Cleveland Cavaliers coach, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday.
The Cavs advanced to their first conference finals since 2018 this season, the furthest the team has gone without LeBron James on the roster since 1992. But their season ended in a sweep by the New York Knicks where each game was decided by double digits.
Support still remains high for Atkinson from key officials within the organization, team sources told ESPN. And after the Cavs were eliminated Monday night, both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden voiced their support for their coach.
"It's just hilarious," Mitchell said Monday night. "We've done something that we haven't done since 2018. There's going to be criticism everywhere on Kenny, but why?... We did it, but we did it with Kenny. We didn't just go out there and coach ourselves.
"I love Kenny. We love Kenny. We ride with Kenny and ultimately that's all that matters."
Atkinson, who signed a five-year deal with the team in 2024, will return for a third season with the Cavs after compiling a record of 116-48 (.707 winning percentage) during the last two regular seasons. Even though the Cavs fell short of their ultimate goal, Atkinson said after the series ended that he was proud of the group for taking the next step.
After losing in the second round in each of the past two seasons, and in the first season under Atkinson, Cleveland advanced to the conference finals after winning two seven-game series in the first two rounds.
But after a lopsided series against the Knicks, the Cavs are expected to be opportunistic this summer with potential roster moves, team sources said, especially after Cavs owner Dan Gilbert tweeted the team is "nowhere near where we need to be."
"I have confidence -- confidence in myself, first of all, confidence in the group," Atkinson responded when asked about his job security. "The roster talk, that's for down the line. Our front office has done a phenomenal job giving us a great roster. Obviously, there'll be decisions to be made like every summer, but I think we're doing pretty well with those decisions since I've been here. Just keep trusting. Trusting our process. Trust our collaboration."
The Cavs fired J.B. Bickerstaff following the 2023-24 season after the team lost in the conference semifinals, bringing in Atkinson with the hopes of advancing deeper in the playoffs. Cleveland won 64 games during Atkinson's first season and he was named coach of the year, but the team lost in the second round again.
Despite beginning this season 17-16 and shaking up the roster by acquiring Harden at the deadline, Cleveland reached the conference finals this season, and Atkinson said Monday night that he considered the year a success.
"That was the task, right? Take another step," Atkinson said. "Knicks were in the conference finals last year. There are barriers. We jumped a barrier that we were stuck on."
But Atkinson came under fire during the conference finals, especially after Cleveland blew a 22-point lead during the fourth quarter in Game 1. With the team trailing 0-3 in the series, Atkinson became the subject of social media fodder by noting how "analytically" the Cavs had won two out of three games -- a reference to an expected shot quality metric on how Cleveland was shooting worse than expected while the Knicks shooting above their expected outcome.
While it was the subject of ridicule outside of the locker room, support for Atkinson remained high within the organization.
"Ultimate players coach," Harden said of Atkinson. "He gets it. He understands his team. Of course, somebody's going to have to take the criticism, whether it's myself or Kenny or like, whoever, the entire team. They're going to put it on somebody. But I think for Kenny, he did an unbelievable job of getting me acclimated as fast as possible to understanding what I was supposed to be doing out there.
"It's just an unfortunate situation. Any team coming off of tough two series against two defensive monsters, it would have been challenging."