Cavaliers assistant coach bringing international flair to Cleveland

From there until his departure in 2024, he helped France capture a total of 13 medals, including FIBA EuroBasket gold in 2013, back-to-back FIBA World Cup bronze medals in 2014 and 2019 and two Olympic silvers in 2020 and 2024.

His exit from the national setup and subsequent conversations with Atkinson led him to his role with the Cavs as an international consultant, something Atkinson is benefiting from.

“He's staying for longer periods, he's not working for the Federation anymore, so we made the contract where he could stay here for longer periods of time,” Atkinson said.

After more than two decades roaming the sideline, Collet no longer needs a sideline to leave his imprint on the NBA. After stepping away from his long-running role with France, Collet has quietly expanded his influence and shifted his time to Cleveland to further embed himself in the Cavaliers’ day-to-day basketball life.

The change has been less about visibility and more about precision. Collet’s value has always lived in the details, and with fewer international obligations, he’s had the bandwidth to dive even deeper.

That preparation and the details are presented in an exhaustive written analysis. Collet regularly sends eight-page breakdowns—slightly slimmer than the ten-page dossiers he once delivered, but no less dense.

Each page is packed with film-based observations, schematic reminders, and situational counters. For a coaching staff navigating an 82-game season, those documents function as both a scouting report and a philosophy refresher.

Collet’s fingerprints are visible in the team’s emphasis on off-ball footwork, positioning, and anticipation. He stresses techniques that rarely make highlight reels. These are the margins where possessions are won and lost, and Collet treats them as non-negotiable.

“It's the details,” Atkinson says. “Foot positioning when you're off the ball, technique on switching a screen. Like I said, he's the most detailed coach I've been around.

“It’s the tiniest things that you might not think are important, he thinks are important. We're up in the pick-and-roll sometimes, and there's a technique we call ‘stab and back’. And he's got this thing, how far the foot should be forward, where the hands should be. You know, it's, it's really cool. And he always talks; he talks to all our players. They respect him.”

In a league often defined by pace, spacing, and star power, Collet’s expanded role is a reminder that structure still matters. The Cavaliers may not always point to his influence publicly, but within the organization, his presence has become part of the foundation—proof that the sharpest edges in today’s NBA are often honed far from the spotlight.