Although they fell way short of their chief goal to win a league title in the 2024-25 NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first year under head coach Kenny Atkinson was one for the books. After winning 48 games in the previous campaign, Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs made a huge leap, erasing any doubts on whether the transition to Atkinson from JB Bickerstaff would backfire right away, as they won 64 contests against only 18 losses.
Atkinson didn’t do it all by himself on the sidelines for the Cavs, but one of his best assistants also just left, with Jordan Ott getting the opportunity to be an NBA coach for the first time after getting hired by the Phoenix Suns. Now, the search is on for the Cavaliers to find a replacement for Ott, and one potential candidate is a former LeBron James teammate in the form of Jared Dudley, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
Via Stein’s The Stein Line: “The Grizzlies, meanwhile, are not the only team to have shown interest Dudley. After four seasons on Jason Kidd’s staff in Dallas and a 14-season career as a player, Dudley is also seen as a target for newly named NBA Coach of the Year Kenny Atkinson in Cleveland as Atkinson looks to replace Jordan Ott, who this week was officially named as the Suns’ new head coach.”
Dudley played for seven teams in the NBA, spending his final two seasons in the league with the Lakers, with whom he won a ring in 2020. He appeared in only two games for the Lakers in the 2020-21 campaign before starting a career in coaching. He became part of Jason Kidd’s Dallas Mavericks coaching staff in 2021, and still is, as of this writing.
Dudley’s coaching experience in the NBA isn’t that extensive, but given the buzz he’s generating, he’s someone who seems to be viewed in high regard around the coaching circle.
In 14 years as a player in the league, Dudley averaged 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 39.3 percent from behind the arc through a total of 904 games. Outside of the Lakers, he played for the Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets and Suns.
