DeAndre Jordan adamantly denied that he was part of a player push in Brooklyn to get rid of head coach Kenny Atkinson.
The Nets agreed to “mutually part ways” with Atkinson, and Jordan told reporters that he (along with fellow newcomers Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant) had nothing to do with the decision.
Atkinson, 52, compiled a 118-190 record over three seasons in BK.
Per The NY Post:
“I think … whatever the reports are, are bulls—,” Jordan said Sunday after the Nets beat the Bulls 110-107 at Barclays Center. “I’m close with Kyrie, but Wilson [Chandler] is a new player, Garrett Temple’s a new player. We’re all new players. So if you’re going to say new players, put it on all eight of the new players.”
General manager Sean Marks insisted on Saturday that the decision to fire Atkinson — or “mutually part ways,” as the organization claimed — did not involve the players. Marks said Atkinson admitted, “My voice is not what it once was here,” but Jordan declined to say if he sensed a change was needed.
“I didn’t sense a change coming. That’s above my pay grade,” said Jordan, who signed a four-year, $40 million deal last summer to join Irving and Durant in Brooklyn.
“I was definitely shocked. I thought Kenny did a great job with us. This is my first year with him obviously and the guys who had been here love him, so I’m sure it’s tough for them. But at the end of the day, this is a business. Coaches get fired, players get cut, traded, whatever it is. So we still have a job to do.”
