CLEVELAND — Kenny Atkinson 's first season with the Cavaliers went about as smoothly as it possibly could have .

His second year, though, is off to a much rockier start . And if Atkinson is to navigate the Cavs through this more difficult stretch, the coach who helped prepare him for it was coaching from the opposite bench at Rocket Arena on Dec. 6 .

Atkinson received his first taste as an NBA head coach with the Brooklyn Nets over parts of four seasons. After leaving Brooklyn, Atkinson made his way through the coaching ranks again, and it was working under Warriors coach Steve Kerr that readied him, in his mind, to finally have a more complete view on how to lead a team.

If Atkinson had already earned a degree in his coaching progression, working under Kerr was akin to gr

See Full Page