Lou Williams is one of the best stories of the NBA Playoffs and he credits Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson for one major reason.
Lou Williams spent Monday night dicing up the Golden State Warriors en route to a 31-point comeback victory in Oakland. The Los Angeles Clippers star is on top of the world, but once upon a time, he was down and out.
That’s where Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, currently in a first-round battle with the Philadelphia 76ers, came into the picture. While Atkinson was an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks, he helped Williams battle back from an anterior cruciate ligament.
“Kenny is one of my all-time favorite people in the world,” Williams said to Scott Cacciola of the New York Times. “I give him a lot of credit for getting me back on my feet when I was down and out.”
Cacciola writes that the veteran guard largely attributes Atkinson with helping him develop his routine while he was in Atlanta.
Both Williams and Atkinson have come so far from their time in Atlanta. Williams just took down the Warriors dynasty to even the series heading back to Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Atkinson’s squad stole a game in Philly and travel back to Brooklyn with the advantage. of course, the Philadelphia 76ers dominant performance on Monday evened up the series at one game apiece.
But expect Atkinson to adjust to the adjustments before Thursday. Any best-of-seven series is part basketball and part chess. Head coaches are constantly searching for that exploitable weakness.
