For the general public, coaching is hard to assess in professional sports. Often, our analysis of head coaches boils down to timeouts, substitutions, lineups, and out-of-timeout plays they cook up. It’s a bit of a black box. We choose how much we want to believe that a team is performing well (or poorly) because of their coach since no one really knows.
But when the Cleveland Cavaliers hired offensive wizard Kenny Atkinson, it was clear as day why they did it: To unlock Evan Mobley, who’s averaging a career-high 17.6 points per game.
According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, when the Cavs were looking for their next tactician this summer, their most important objective was to find someone who could not only devise creative ways for the Mobley-Jarrett Allen frontcourt to work, but also maximize the talent of their 23-year-old big man, who just signed a max contract extension.
While it’s typically hard to credit coaches for things like development, there are a few aspects Atkinson has brought to Cleveland that have helped Mobley take the next step in his career. In turn, they’re elevating the 8-0 Cavs to new stratospheres early on this season.