Friday will be an important day for the first seeds of both conferences. Two decisive games to determine the respective eighth seeds. So, both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the OKC Thunder have to be watching out for their upcoming playoff rivals. And for the Cavs, well, they might have to look into a few sides before heading into the postseason. Especially for head coach Kenny Atkinson. LeBron James’s past blunder should serve as a lesson for the HC.

On the Locked On Cavs podcast, the Akron native ESPN insider Brian Windhorst broke down a few situations lying ahead for Coach Atkinson. Speaking of the Cavs, and Darius Garland in particular, Windy thinks that the 25-year-old guard would be under a lot of pressure. Donovan Mitchell has taken up more of a leadership role on the team, with DG being the primary attacker. Therefore, he thinks, “There’s probably more gonna end up being more pressure on Darius because what he does is more of a variance. Plus, the teams are going to attack him.”

The simplest way to harass the Cavs is to “exploit the small guards on defense,” Windy pointed out. “That’s what’s going to happen. They’re going to go after them. They’re going to test him. Isaac Okoro will be ignored. I know he’s much better than he was years ago, but people will not respect him.” The 24-year-old guard has played 55 games this season with an average of 6.1 ppg. Therefore, it’s most likely that the rival teams wouldn’t want to pay him much attention.

While Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley’s defense will draw attention, all eyes will be on Kenny Atkinson’s star, Darius Garland. But sadly, Brian Windhorst had to hand the Cavs fans a reality check. He told Danny Cunningham, “Darius had some good moments down the stretch, but he was not strong in the second half of the season. He was a guy that, at one point, I thought was a really strong candidate to make All-NBA, and his inconsistent play down the stretch took him off my ballot. By the way, that’s not to say he didn’t have a great season.”

Garland is having one of the best seasons of his career so far. Yet, according to Windy, the second phase of the league was unimpressive. Therefore, the Cavs’ superstar might be on the verge of losing a lump-sum of $38 million. How? As per Spotrac, Garland is on a 5-year, $197M contract with Cleveland. If he makes it to All-NBA, he’d get a 30% league cap (CAP%) on his current contract. That would get him to earn $231 million. But if he fails to make it to there, then $193 million it is!

Meanwhile, Kenny Atkinson must take a trip down memory lane, move straight to the 2008-09 NBA season, and think. Deeply. LeBron James was running the show for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In that season, they entered the Playoffs as the first seed in the East. Bron kept practising to play against the Boston Celtics, who were the second seed in the East. But what the Cavs didn’t see coming was the Orlando Magic. Element of surprise? Undoubtedly!

LeBron James’ 2009 blunder with Cleveland could be a lesson for Kenny Atkinson

Back in the 2008-09 NBA season, Brian Windhorst was extensively covering the Cleveland Cavaliers. Taking a quick trip to the past, the ESPN insider recalled the time when the Celtics played the Orlando Magic on a Sunday in Game 7. Meanwhile, LeBron James was busy simulating the Celtics because probably the Cavs’ coaching staff didn’t analyze that the tables would turn towards the Magic in the Conference Finals.

“They [Cleveland] had studied the Celtics so much, and the Magic made a bunch of threes and stunned everybody. They won in Boston in Game Seven. Then it was the Magic who came in 48 hours later. They weren’t ready for them, and they were a bad matchup for them,” Windy recalled. However, this year, such a situation won’t come about. This is because Kenny Atkinson wouldn’t let this mistake that Bron made years ago repeat itself.

“I don’t feel that way about the Cavs this year. I don’t feel like there’s a team that is like, ‘Oh man, that’s not a good matchup’; I feel like they are equipped,” Brian Windhorst analyzed. “Not only that, Kenny Atkinson has spent the whole year preparing the team to play four, five, six, seven different ways. The Celtics were the enemy back then, but the Cavs weren’t really positioned to adjust. Now, the Cavs are positioned to adjust and win in different ways.” Simply put, Cleveland is more prepared than ever to face any challenge that comes their way.

So, while the ghosts of 2009 still linger, Kenny Atkinson brushes them off. Instead, he’s plotting, prepping, and staying one step ahead. Darius Garland may be under fire, but the Cavs? They’re built for surprises. This time, Cleveland’s not guessing—they’re game-ready.