Durant Declines to Speak on Kenny Atkinson Firing; LeVert, Dinwiddie Comment
Some Brooklyn Nets players spoke Saturday after Kenny Atkinson's firing. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were not among them.
Guards Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris addressed the media Saturday, with none of the players saying they were behind any player-led movement to oust the coach.
"I absolutely [had] no 'Fire Kenny' conversations with Sean [Marks], so I don't know, not a part of that," Dinwiddie said, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. "It's not like I called Joe [Tsai] on the phone and was like, 'Hey, you making any moves?' I like to think we're cool, but not that cool."
The Nets fired Atkinson despite the team sitting at 28-34 and in seventh place in the East. And while it was known Durant would miss this season because of an Achilles tear, Irving was limited to 20 games before being ruled out for the year, and LeVert has also missed 25 games.
That essentially left Atkinson with a cabal of role players, many of whom he's helped turn into quality NBA rotation pieces.
Dinwiddie has emerged as a borderline All-Star after arriving in Brooklyn as a G Leaguer. Harris, now one of the NBA's best three-point marksmen, was another G Leaguer the Nets took a chance on after he was waived by the Orlando Magic after never playing a game for the franchise. LeVert and center Jarrett Allen were developmental first-round draft picks that Atkinson reached and helped become NBA starters.
"I never really did," LeVert said of players tuning Atkinson out. "But we had a lot of new guys this year, so you never really know how that goes."
Harris also acknowledged the dynamic of the Nets locker room changed after signing Irving, Durant and DeAndre Jordan over the summer.
"Dealing with a young, up-and-coming team is much different than coaching superstar players," Harris said. "It's a much different dynamic."
Lewis' report points the finger in Irving's direction, saying the All-Star guard "put the knife" in Atkinson's back. While general manager Sean Marks tried to make it clear publicly this was a front office-led decision, no coach is getting fired in the modern NBA without input from a team's stars.
"This didn't involve the players," Marks said. "This was a matter where it was a discussion between Kenny and myself. We brought in ownership when we needed to and we arose at this decision. This was a decision that wasn't even about Kevin, Kyrie, Caris, Joe, Spencer, Jarrett Allen. This was a decision that Kenny, myself and ownership came up with."
Durant has been around the team all season and is one of the best minds in basketball; he didn't necessarily need to play for Atkinson to develop an opinion. Irving is a fair scapegoat because of his self-made reputation following acrimonious exits from Boston and Cleveland, but his voice very likely was not the only one involved.
Atkinson finishes his tenure with a 118-190 record, though that far undersells the job he did helping Brooklyn rebuild. It's likely he'll find himself among the most sought-after coaches on the market this offseason.
