Cavs’ Atkinson to coach in ASG for first time

Jan 24, 2025, 12:52 AM ET

Kenny Atkinson’s first season as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers will include his first time as a head coach in the All-Star Game.

Atkinson’s Cavaliers (36-7) clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference through games played this Sunday thanks to the Boston Celtics‘ 117-96 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. As a result, Atkinson will coach one of the four teams in the revamped All-Star Game on Feb. 16 at Chase Center in San Francisco.

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An assistant coach from the Cleveland staff will serve as a head coach for another one of the four teams.

The other two head coaches will be Mark Daigneault of the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, as well as an assistant from his staff, as previously announced.

Atkinson is the first Cavalier to coach in the All-Star Game since Tyronn Lue in the 2015-16 season.

The NBA adopted a new one-night All-Star Game tournament this season with three teams comprised of eight All-Stars drafted to teams by former NBA players Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal of TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”

The winner of the Rising Stars challenge competition between first- and second-year players will be the fourth team in the All-Star Game tournament.

Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.

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