Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson officially is a candidate to land the Houston Rockets’ open head-coaching job.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday, citing sources, that Golden State granted Houston permission to interview Atkinson for its lead role.
Per The Athletic's Shams Charania, Atkinson will go up against Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin, former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka, former Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel and former Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego for the position. Wojnarowski also reported Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young is a candidate.
Atkinson, who has been coaching in the NBA since the 2008-09 season, has one stint as a head coach under his belt. He led the Brooklyn Nets for nearly four full seasons from 2016-17 to 2019-20 before mutually parting ways with the franchise in March 2020.
Atkinson steered the Nets through a rebuild and registered a 42-40 campaign in 2018-19, the franchise’s first winning season in five years.
After leaving Brooklyn, Atkinson was hired onto Tyronn Lue’s Los Angeles Clippers staff as an assistant the following year and joined the Warriors in 2021-22.
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Atkinson was offered the Charlotte Hornets’ head-coaching job last summer but opted to return to Golden State for another season. He also was considered a candidate to land Atlanta’s opening in February before the Hawks hired Quin Snyder.
The Rockets announced Stephen Silas was out as head coach Monday after three years. Houston finished 22-60 this season, tied for the second-worst record in the NBA. They have a 14 percent chance to win the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, where French phenom Victor Wembanyama is expected to be the selection.