A real candidate for the NBA Coach of the Year award and has his team as the one seed, got his basketball career started in Wichita Falls.

For fans in North Texas who have been betrayed by a certain Dallas NBA team and are looking for someone to root for this year. Why not root for a guy that was once a Wichita Falls Texan? That's right, a guy that helped bring a championship to Wichita Falls is currently the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Two surprising teams in the NBA's Eastern Conference this year are the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons. Both of their respective head coaches are in the first year with their team. So a lot of folks are learning about these guys as their teams have climbed up the standings. Turns out the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, Kenny Atkinson, used to play for the championship Wichita Falls Texans.

Wichita Falls Texans Commercial

In case you were unaware, Wichita Falls had a professional basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association. The team was around from 1988-1994. During that time, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson was a Texan. He played point guard for the team from 1990-1992. During the 1991 season, Kenny did play for a period of team in the United States Basketball League before coming back to the Texans in the same year.

Watch a Wichita Falls Texans Game Below

Sadly, Kenny never made it to the NBA as player. He played across the world for several years before getting into coaching in 2004. We will see how his Cavaliers due in the upcoming NBA playoffs. If you grew up rooting for the Texans, you can still root for one right now.