NBA Fans React To The Cavs Keeping Kenny Atkinson

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly won't change head coaches after a lopsided Eastern Conference Finals.

The New York Knicks completed a dominant sweep over the Cavaliers in Monday's 130-93 win at Rocket Arena. Cleveland got outscored by 77 combined points in four double-digit losses after surviving a pair of seven-game series against the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons.

Cleveland doesn't plan to respond to an Eastern Conference Finals loss like the Knicks did last year. According to The Athletic's Joe Vardon, the organization plans to keep Kenny Atkinson as the head coach.

Fans react to Cleveland's reported coaching decision

Not everyone shared the same stance on Cleveland's reported intentions to retain Atkinson. Many disagree with the course of action, but others don't see a coaching change as a fix.

"Kind of stunned," Ben Axelrod of Front Office Sports said. "I thought a coaching change was the most obvious move. Have to imagine some sort of major roster tweak is coming now."

"Roster changes ultimately feel way more important, but I'm surprised they made the decision on Atkinson this quickly," Jordan Zirm of Amazon Prime Sports wrote.

"Not surprised. He's not a bad coach, he had a very bad series," Alex Hitchens said. "Hope he learns from it."

"I don't know how you can keep him after everything that came out of his mouth these playoffs," John Stevens wrote. "Something is off in that whole building."

"Analytically I believe this is the wrong move," a fan quipped. "In fact, a terrible move."

Atkinson will reportedly stay

There are plenty of reasons to support Atkinson staying in Cleveland. The 2024-25 Coach of the Year has stockpiled 116 wins in just two regular seasons and just led the Cavs to their first conference finals appearance since 2018.

But despite a lengthy run, Cleveland went 8-10 this postseason after getting swept by New York. Atkinson didn't help his cause by claiming that, "Analytically, we've won two out of three" games to start the series.

While Atkinson isn't getting fired, the Cavaliers could take a long, hard look at their roster this offseason. ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on Tuesday's NBA Today that he expects the team to make "some significant changes," which could include pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 5:05 PM.