The Brooklyn Nets faced arguably their toughest task of the 2024-25 season on Saturday night. The Nets traveled westward to take on their old coach Kenny Atkinson and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brooklyn put immense pressure on the Cavs, but Cleveland stayed resilient and beat the Nets 105-100. The defeat was a significant moment for both sides.
The Nets have faced two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics and the Cavs, each within 48 hours, and Brooklyn's fight was something to be proud of. Moreover, going toe-to-toe with the only remaining undefeated team in the NBA was no easy feat.
Brooklyn and Cleveland played immensely hard against each other, a sight that must have taken Kenny Atkinson on a meaningful reflection.
Atkinson was the head coach of the Nets from 2016 to 2020 and was instrumental in the development of several players who took the floor on Saturday night. These included Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, and even Nic Claxton. Atkinson probably never thought he would coach some of his squad members on a team different from the original squad he grew with them on, but he showed his development and talent as a coach and beat the Nets to help Cleveland to an 11-0 record.
Atkinson's ascent since his Nets days signal Brooklyn might have made a costly blunder.
Would Atkinson have brought the Nets to similar great heights?
Before the 2024-25 season, fans knew Kenny Atkinson might be the key to unlocking the Cavs' potential. However, they likely did not expect the team to have the best record in the NBA and, nonetheless, be undefeated. As Nets fans look at Atkinson and Cleveland's success from afar, it is only natural to wonder if the head coach could have propelled Brooklyn to similar heights.
The Nets and Atkinson "mutually agreed" to part ways in March of 2020, which was when the team possessed the services of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Brooklyn wanted to "reach the next level," and they felt another coach was a better fit to do so.
Four years later, Atkinson has taken the Cavaliers to a level that is arguably higher than anyone else in the NBA. The Nets might have made a mistake in not giving Atkinson more time in the borough. Brooklyn should have given him more time, especially since Kevin Durant was not fully healthy by the time the former head coach departed the team.
Yet, as easy as it would be to see Atkinson's early 2024-25 success and wish he were still in Brooklyn, the Nets made what appeared to be a strong coaching decision by hiring Jordi Fernandez.
The Nets entered the season with a laughable 19.5 win projection, but Fernandez has Brooklyn playing just as hard as anyone else in the league. After their Cavs loss, the Nets possesses a 4-6 record, which ranks them on the cusp of an eighth-place spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
If Fernandez and the Nets continue to gel, there is no telling what Brooklyn's ceiling is. Will Fernandez help the Nets make a similar ascent to Atkinson's' Cavaliers? Only time will tell.