As the Cavs had their annual Wine & Gold Scrimmage at Public Auditorium, fans gathered, players played, and some other fun antics ensued. The game itself was rather competitive, but it was all of the hi-jinks that made it worthwhile.

One of the coolest things seen here was Kenny Atkinson actually taking part in a shooting drill. The team was firing off shots from the half-court line, and lo and behold, the ball eventually went in.

But it wasn’t who you expected making the shot.

Coach Re-Living His Glory Days On The Floor

Once upon a time, Kenny Atkinson was a basketball player at the University of Richmond. He averaged 18 points per game during his senior season, shooting threes at a clip not seen so commonly during his time there. He hit 41% of them during that final campaign, making 2.4 a night.

Atkinson, already pretty loved in the city of Cleveland, gave a new reason for folks to enjoy having him around. In that half-court shooting drill, as the players struggled to knock one down, it was the team’s coach who stepped up and started to rev up the crowd.

The first try he got, he buried it, and the place went absolutely crazy. This is what it’s really about. A man of the people, Atkinson’s reaction captured just how fired up he was to have been the one to make the shot.

This is somebody who has played pro ball himself and been around the game all over the world. The pressure was zero for him.

Atkinson is coming into his third year at the helm in Cleveland and will be hoping to take his team where only Tyronn Lue and David Blatt have previously. That place, of course, would be the NBA Finals.

Preparing For Another Season

Kenny Atkinson’s half-court moment was far from the only exciting thing to happen at the Wine & Gold scrimmage. The star players shone brightly. The rookies sang some karaoke. Everybody seemed to be having a great time, which is just what you want to see as the squad is five days out from their season opener. 

Atkinson is hoping to take this team to the promised land. As deep as the East is, the front office got busy this summer. He’s praised newcomer Mario Hezonja every chance he’s gotten. He’ll have two star guards in his backcourt to lean on, with the team’s big frontcourt looking to hold it down as they have in years past.

The Cavs have got the pieces they believe they need, so we’ll see when they play the Sixers on Thursday just how prepared they are for the gauntlet. If their head man needs to hit some more threes to fire the team up, well, we’ve already seen that he is capable of it.