There are influential people around owner Joe Tsai whispering that the Brooklyn Nets should not consider Ime Udoka to become their newest coach.
Sources told league insider Marc Stein that there have been some “strong voices” that are trying to pull Tsai away from intents to tap Udoka for the Nets’ coaching vacancy “given the considerable turmoil Brooklyn has already faced this season.”
The Nets had a roller coaster ride this week headlined by Steve Nash’s coaching dismissal, rusty Ben Simmons recovering his knee injury and Kyrie Irving being the face of controversy due to his antisemitism tendencies. Perhaps they found a silver lining amongst these chaotic events as they are currently enjoying a two-game win streak.
But positives are being outweighed by negatives, and hiring Udoka logically adds more fuel to their burning 2022-2023 season.
The league-wide perception of Udoka has gone from being promising to problematic. After harnessing praise as he led the Boston Celtics to a marvelous rise to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, the energy has shifted as he became the face of internal franchise controversy. Reportedly having an improper relationship with team staff and violating multiple team rules, he was ultimately slapped with a full season suspension.
Though there are already reports that both sides are advancing on a probable collaboration, it won’t be really more unpleasant from the public’s viewpoint if Udoka would be serving as the successor of Nash on the Nets.
It remains yet to be seen how things will unfold, as Brooklyn continues to be desperate to save their season after a hellish beginning.
