Schuyler Callihan:
From the very beginning, my guy was Darvin Ham. I felt like he had everything the Hornets needed in its next head coach. That said, Kenny Atkinson was No. 2 for me. He has a well-documented past of developing players and with how young this roster still is, they need someone who has experience in that area. Is it the big, flashy hire? No, but it made the most sense after Ham went to Los Angeles. Hiring D'Antoni would have made absolutely zero sense after firing James Borrego. By the way, I'm still not convinced firing Borrego was the right thing to do, but only time will tell.
James Plowright:
Unsure, coaching is one of the most difficult areas to analyze in the NBA. No doubt fans will fall in love with Atkinson’s quotes during press conferences and training camp, but the proof will be in the win percentage. Atkinson will be under a win-now mandate from day one and he’s never consistently led a team to postseason success so there is some risk here. However, I like the fact that Charlotte isn’t just abandoning their player development philosophy, Atkinson is well known for that and he’s got several interesting young players on the roster to work with.
Israel Omondi:
I’d say it’s too early to tell. Charlotte went with a younger, player development-focused coach showing that they’re trying to bring some stability to this organization. Kenny Atkinson did a great job in Brooklyn. He was given a roster compiled of young players and players nearing the end of their careers. At the time, Brooklyn was the laughing stock of the league. A team that sold all their assets for a failed super team of Ex-Celtics. Atkinson flipped that around and made them a playoff team. Atkinson is a guy that brings culture to a team and a lot of his former players do love him. It’ll be interesting to see what Atkinson can do with the young players like LaMelo, Kai Jones, Bouknight, and the incoming rookies. This Hornets roster is much better than rosters he was dealt with in Brooklyn. Hopefully, he can instill things he learned under Steve Kerr and Ty Lue.
Laquan Robinson:
I would have preferred to see Borrego another season if I was told Kenny would have been hired as his replacement. I understand Atkinson has a strong background in development, but with the timeline of the players already under contract, I believe this was not the best of the candidates available. It's way too early to feel high or low on Atkinson I just personally was really a big fan of some of the other contenders for the position.
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