Many people associate Kenny Atkinson with mentoring Jeremy Lin, but Kevin McHale coached him longer than anybody in the NBA. The former Rockets coach said Lin is a better player now than he was during his two years in Houston, but that may not be enough to keep the Nets from being the worst team in the NBA.
“He has high effort. He’s going to make mistakes, but they’re going to be mistakes of effort,’’ McHale told The Post. “You’ll never have to encourage him go full-blast; maybe to go a little slower. He’s very aggressive; that hasn’t changed.