Rockets Rumors: Ex-Nets HC Kenny Atkinson Interviewed for Vacant Job

Former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson reportedly interviewed with the Houston Rockets for their vacant head coaching position this week, according to Alykhan Bijani and Kelly Iko of The Athletic. 

Houston is replacing Mike D'Antoni, who became a free agent after the 2019-20 season and chose not to return to the organization. 

Mark Berman of Fox 26 reported that the team has also interviewed Dallas Mavericks assistant Stephen Silas, Denver Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr. and Minnesota Timberwolves associate head coach David Vanterpool.

Atkinson, 53, started his NBA career in Houston as the director of player development in 2007. The New York native started his coaching career the next year as an assistant coach with the Knicks, spending four seasons with the teams. The former Richmond point guard spent the next four seasons as an assistant for the Atlanta Hawks before taking over as the Nets head coach in the 2016-17 season. 

He did brilliantly to help return the Nets to competitiveness in the wake of the now-infamous 2013 trade between the Nets and Boston Celtics that cost Brooklyn, in part, first-round picks in 2014, 2016, and 2018 and first-round swap rights in 2017 in exchange for aging players in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. 

That deal worked out poorly for Brooklyn and left them without lottery pick capital for years at a time when they were in a rebuilding mode. But through savvy drafting, superb scouting, strong personnel moves and excellent talent development, Atkinson went from 20-62 and 28-54 in his first two seasons to 42-40 in the 2018-19 campaign and a surprising playoff berth. 

With Brooklyn assembling a strong supporting cast with Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris and building a reputation as a well-run organization, the free-agent pair of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were enticed to sign with the Nets ahead of the 2019-20 season. Durant didn't play at all in the campaign because of an Achilles tear from the previous postseason and Irving was limited by injuries, but the Nets had landed their superstars. 

Their arrival would be Atkinson's undoing, however, as he was fired midway through last season with a 28-34 record. There were reports that Irving had "soured" on Atkinson throughout the season and that the head coach wasn't thrilled about the prospect of coaching Durant and Irving either. 

That might call into question how Atkinson would coexist with players like James Harden and Russell Westbrook, or whether Atkinson is better suited to being a developmental coach than the man leading a contender. 

Other candidates believed to be in the running for the position, like Tyronn Lue and Jeff Van Gundy, have more playoff experience and more time spent working with superstar players. But if the Rockets feel Atkinson's reportedly thorny fit with Durant and Irving was more about the particular personalities involved and less about Atkinson's ability to work with stars, he would be an interesting hire.