National Basketball Association

Nets hire Hawks assistant Kenny Atkinson as new coach

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:21 p.m. ET

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NEW YORK (AP) The Brooklyn Nets have hired Hawks assistant Kenny Atkinson as their new coach.

Atkinson spent the last four seasons in Atlanta, with the Hawks making the playoffs each year. Before that, he was an assistant for the New York Knicks for four seasons.

Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a release Sunday: ''Kenny's years of NBA coaching experience working under successful head coaches such as Mike Budenholzer and Mike D'Antoni have provided him with the foundation and experience we were looking for in a head coach.''

The Nets fired second-year coach Lionel Hollins in January with the team off to a 10-27 start.

Atkinson will remain with the Hawks through their playoff run.

A native of nearby Huntington, New York, on Long Island, the 48-year-old Atkinson starred at Richmond then played professionally in Europe.