Getty Head Coach Ime Udoka, Boston Celtics
After the Brooklyn Nets parted ways with head coach Steve Nash on Nov. 1, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that they intended to hire suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka as Nash’s replacement. That may no longer be the case.
Marc Stein tweeted that Nets owner Joe Tsai is being urged not to hire Udoka as the team’s next head coach after the turmoil that the team has already been going through.
“League sources say there have been some ‘strong voices’ urging Joe Tsai to back off the Nets’ intent to hire suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka as Steve Nash’s successor given the considerable turmoil Brooklyn has already faced this season,” Stein said.
League sources say there have been some “strong voices” urging Joe Tsai to back off the Nets’ intent to hire suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka as Steve Nash’s successor given the considerable turmoil Brooklyn has already faced this season.
More to come: t.co/LGN9cVpMwn
Charania reported on Nov. 3 that the Nets had suspended Kyrie Irving for five days following Irving’s controversial actions on Twitter and his response when questioned about it.
Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving at least five games without pay.
Although Wojnarowski and Charania have reported that Brooklyn intends to hire Udoka, the Nets have yet to announce the hire.
Marcus Smart’s Thoughts on Udoka’s Departure
When it had been reported that the Nets planned to hire Udoka, Marcus Smart was candid when talking to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe about Udoka’s departure on Nov. 2.
“Obviously, we wish he was here,” Smart told Himmelsbach. “We have no control over that. It definitely sucks. I guess it was deemed that whatever happened was enough for him not to be the coach here, but I guess not enough for him [not] to be a coach anywhere else, obviously.”
Smart then talked about what he called “slander” regarding Udoka’s future in the NBA.
“His name got slandered and slaughtered and it was, ‘He’ll probably never coach again,’ ” Smart said. “And a couple of months later, now he’s possibly going to be the coach of one of our biggest rivals?”
Smart then made it clear that while he hoped Udoka would return to the sidelines to the Celtics, he understands that the NBA is a business.
“We obviously thought he’d be back, but obviously, the team and organization felt a different way,” Smart said. “Unfortunately, that’s the business side of it, and we have to deal with it.
“Now he’s possibly going to take a job right down the street from us and be coaching the same guys we were trying to beat to get to where we were last year.”
Steps Kyrie has to Take
Following the announcement of Irving’s suspension, Charania reported the steps Irving has to take to return to the court for the Nets. In short, there are six steps Irving has to take to play for the Nets again, according to Charania.
1. Issue an apology for posting a link to the movie on Oct. 27, condemn the harmful and false content and make clear that he does not have anti-Jewish beliefs.
2. Complete the anti-hate causes that Irving, the Nets, and the Anti-Defamation League agreed upon in their joint release on Nov. 2 — including a $500,000 donation toward causes and organizations that work to eradicate hate and intolerance in communities.
3. Complete sensitivity training created by the Nets.
4. Complete antisemitic/anti-hate training designed by the Nets.
5. Meet with representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, as well as Jewish community leaders in Brooklyn.
6. After completing 1 to 5, meet with owner Joe Tsai and lead franchise officials and demonstrate the lessons learned and that the gravity of the harm caused in the situation is understood, and provide assurances that this type of behavior will not be repeated.
It is yet to be confirmed if Irving will take those steps to return to the Nets.