Having led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 60-win season (and counting), Kenny Atkinson is a heavy betting favorite to be named the NBA’s Coach of the Year.
He also might be a thief.
Taking to X on Monday, BIGPLAY and WOIO Sports personality Gabriella Kreuz shared a clip of the Cavs head coach bemused by a small, circular electronic device sitting on the podium during his postgame press conference following Cleveland’s 127-122 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Upon realizing it was a microphone, Atkinson quickly realized he had made a mistake, previously taking the same model of microphone home with him after believing it was something else.
“What is this?” Atkinson asked, holding up the small, circular lavalier microphone.
“That’s my mic,” Kreuz can be heard replying in the clip.
“I’ve got one of your mics!” Atkinson exclaimed instantly, seemingly realizing the mistake he had made. “I’ll bring it back.”
The former Brooklyn Nets head coach proceeded to recall taking items out of his pocket while at home before discovering the microphone he had accidentally stolen.
“I was like, ‘what is this thing?'” Atkinson said. “It’s like a tracking device.”
“I thought it was a tracking device” 😭💀
Yesterday I caught a live react of the person who stole my microphone during a #cavs press conference last game: pic.twitter.com/RXRgBJSCoO
— Gabriella Kreuz (@thesportsGab) March 31, 2025
In Atkinson’s defense, the microphone in question — which appeared to be a Hollyland Lark M2 wireless lavalier microphone — looks a lot more like an Apple AirTag than it does a traditional recorder or microphone. And while it’s unclear why he decided to pick it up while leaving the previous conference, it’s a credit to the Coach of the Year frontrunner that he was able to put two and two together before offering to replace Kreuz’s missing microphone.