In the NBA playoffs, a coach and referee share a college past but maintain a strictly professional bond
### Rewritten Body
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson and NBA official Curtis Blair were once teammates on the Richmond Spiders basketball team from 1988 to 1990.
CLEVELAND — During Thursday’s Game 2 of the Cavs-Pistons playoff series, nearly everyone seemed to have a word with referee Curtis Blair—except for Kenny Atkinson. At the end of the first quarter, Cavaliers star James Harden engaged in a brief sideline conversation with the sturdy official. Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff voiced his frustrations multiple times, and Blair largely allowed it without pushing back.
Atkinson, however, kept his distance. In the fourth quarter, with the game hanging in the balance, Blair called a loose-ball foul against the Cavs. Atkinson disagreed strongly with the decision, but instead of charging at the official or shouting, he remained near his bench, shaking his head and staring at Blair.
There is history between the two—far beyond the usual coach-referee dynamic. Decades ago, Atkinson and Blair played together on the same college basketball team. That shared background might be worth little more than a coffee at a Detroit Starbucks, but it doesn’t alter their on-court relationship.
“You know, listen, there’s no, like, friends, right? We’re competing,” Atkinson told *The Athletic* after his team’s 116-109 Game 3 victory. “There is no, I’m not going to say anything to Curtis because we went to school together. There’s none of that. I would say it’s like super professional, our interactions. But we both know we have this shared history.”
Atkinson, 58, has been coaching in the NBA since 2008, first as an assistant and now as a head coach. Blair, 55, is in his 18th season as a referee. They entered the league around the same time. From 1988 to 1990, they formed a dynamic backcourt for the Richmond Spiders, with Atkinson as a senior and Blair as a sophomore. Both led the team in scoring during that era, earning the “giant killer” reputation.
These two are not the only former teammates to find themselves on opposite sides of an NBA game as coach (or player) and referee. Former NBA player Leon Wood transitioned to officiating in 1996, working games involving former teammates, coaches, and opponents—including Michael Jordan, who laughed the first time Wood refereed a Chicago Bulls game. Other ex-players like Haywoode Workman and Bernie Fryer also made the same switch.
While Richmond alumni take pride in the success of both men in the NBA, the fact that Atkinson and Blair once shared a locker room is not widely known around the league. Blair has officiated countless games coached by Atkinson, including three in the 2026 playoffs so far (the Cavs are 1-2 in those contests—losing Game 3 of the first round to Toronto and Game 2 to Detroit, but winning Game 7 against the Raptors decisively).
Atkinson says they have never sat down together over coffee or wine to revisit the past, discuss their paths, or navigate their unique dynamic. Those who know them say neither brings it up in phone conversations either. Kenny coaches, Curtis referees.
“We’re never like, ‘Hey, Curt, remember when you hit the buzzer-beater against American University to put us in the finals of the CAA tournament?’ We don’t reminisce,” Atkinson said. “We’re not joking about [their Richmond coach] Dick Tarrant. What I’d love to do when this is all said and done is spend a week with Curtis and his family and hear about our journeys, you know, but we’ve definitely kind of, you know, haven’t kept it in touch.”