Cavs Insider

Cavaliers Head Coach Earns Impressive Honor To Start Cleveland Tenure

Cleveland Head Coach Kenny Atkinson was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October and November.

Logan Potosky

Nov 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts in the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
Nov 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts in the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images
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This past offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers hired Kenny Atkinson as their new head coach ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

And just over a month into his tenure, the Cavaliers own the NBA's best record at 18-3.

On Tuesday, the NBA announced that Atkinson has been named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October and November.

Cleveland went an NBA-best 17-3 during this span, leading the league in: points per game (122.4), field goal percentage (51.1%), and three-point percentage (40.2%). The Wine and Gold's offense also ranked top-10 in the league in: three-pointers per game (15.2, sixth), fewest turnovers per game (13.1, sixth), and assists per game (28.2, seventh).

Atkinson led the Cavaliers to a 15-0 start to begin this season. According to Stathead, this year's Cleveland squad tied the second-best start to a season in NBA history, joining the 1993-94 Houston Rockets and 1948-49 Washington Capitols. The Wine and Gold's 15-game winning streak to begin the campaign trailed only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who went 24-0 to start their season.

A basketball coach clapping his hands while wearing a black quarter zip jacket.
Nov 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts in the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

The 57-year-old also made individual history with his team's impressive start this season. He became the second head coach or manager ever in the four major professional sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL) to win each of their first 15 games at the helm of a team.

Atkinson is the eighth Cavaliers head coach to be named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month. This is also his first time being named an NBA Coach of the Month, as he previously served as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016-17 through 2019-20.

Cleveland will continue its three-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. in its final NBA Cup Group Play game of the season.

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Logan Potosky
LOGAN POTOSKY

Logan Potosky is an aspiring play-by-play sports broadcaster who, to date, has called approximately 350+ hours of professional, college, and high school sporting events. He is currently the Play-by-Play Broadcaster for the Lake County Captains, the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. He graduated from John Carroll University in May of 2023 with a degree in Communication, with a concentration in Digital Media, and a minor in Entrepreneurship.

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