Kenny Atkinson Calls New Cavaliers Facility a ‘Recruiting Tool’

Kenny Atkinson called the Cleveland Cavaliers' downtown training center a recruiting tool for players and staff after Friday's practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts, the Independence, Ohio, facility the team will leave when the new building opens.

The Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center is under construction on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River, near West Third Street and Eagle Avenue.

The building will cover 210,000 square feet, four times the size of the current facility, according to the team's plans. The Cleveland City Planning Commission approved the final design in October 2024.

Cleveland Clinic said in August that the center is expected to open in August 2027. The public will have access to the sports medicine side of the building.

Atkinson is most eager to get into the shooting lab.

"First of all, it's a great recruiting tool, I mean, for players, staff, and the fact that everything's going to be downtown, I think that's really cool," Atkinson said. "And then when you have those kind of resources at your fingertips, right, we're going to have a shooting lab. I just can't wait to get in there and play with all the fancy stuff and figure it out. I don't know. It's such a positive for the organization."

"But I will miss this place. I will say that," Atkinson continued. "Nostalgically, this is beautiful too, but I'm glad our WNBA team is going to be here, so it's not going to go unused."

The Cavaliers have practiced in Independence since 2007. Cleveland Clinic Courts opened that September with two full-size practice courts.

The Independence building is being renovated to serve as the practice facility for Cleveland's WNBA expansion team, which begins play in 2028 at Rocket Arena, Pollstar reported in August 2025.

The Cavaliers, Cleveland Clinic, and Bedrock broke ground on the downtown center on Oct. 14, 2024. Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley took part in the ceremony with Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Cleveland Clinic CEO Tom Mihaljevic.

That day, the team extended its partnership with Cleveland Clinic by 25 years. The relationship dates to 1993.

Cavaliers chairman Dan Gilbert is funding the project, which is the first vertical development in Bedrock's $3.5 billion plan for the Cuyahoga riverfront.

Bedrock is the real estate arm of Gilbert's Rock family of companies.

Populous designed the building, and Whiting-Turner is the builder. The Cavaliers unveiled the first renderings in March 2024.

Interior renderings released in February showed an on-site barbershop among the player amenities. Koby Altman, Cleveland's president of basketball operations, said in that release that the facility was designed to give players the resources required to pursue championships.

Cleveland Clinic released renderings of its side of the building on Aug. 25 and said the center will use wearable technology and performance data through a partnership with Sports Data Labs.

The center will sit a short drive from Rocket Arena, where the Cavaliers play their home games.

Cleveland opens the regular season Thursday, Oct. 22, at Philadelphia.

The Cavaliers host the Brooklyn Nets in their home opener Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. ET, part of a 2026-27 schedule that includes 17 national television games.