Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson was recently called up for an in-person interview. Besides Sergio Scariolo, Jordi Fernandez, and Darko Rajakovic, he is now the fourth candidate to take over as Raptors head coach.
The Toronto Raptors are the only organization yet to fill the head coaching vacancy during the NBA offseason. Now they seem to have added a fourth candidate to the list of finalists.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson was recently called up for an in-person interview, establishing him as a serious candidate for the position.
As Stein notes, the three main candidates besides Atkinson - Sergio Scariolo, Jordi Fernandez, and Darko Rajakovic - are scheduled to receive interviews in Toronto. Scariolo's interview was initially scheduled to take place on Monday, June 5th.
Scariolo will not attend the meeting live in Canada, Stein later announced. Instead, it's expected for the interview to be done online.
Scariolo signed a three-year deal with Virtus Segafredo Bologna back in 2021 but talks about his possible move to the NBA have recently intensified. The veteran coach had a meeting with the representatives of the Raptors organization in Bologna several weeks ago.
"It was a good meeting, almost all of them were my friends because I won a championship there," he later said.
Stein writes that his sources indicated to him that Fernandez is a 'name to watch' as well despite Scariolo being considered as the favorite to take over the position.