Getty Head coach Ime Udoka, Boston Celtics
Suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka does not have his next gig lined up after all. After Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the Brooklyn Nets were planning to hire Ime Udoka as their next head coach, Wojnarowski reported that Jacque Vaughn got the job instead.
The Nets are making Jacque Vaughn head coach.
Wojnarowski explained why the Nets passed on hiring Udoka.
“I think it became too difficult for the Nets to hire Ime Udoka with the events of the whole Kyrie Irving situation last week. Then certainly not just the potential backlash, but the disruption that would come with Udoka based on his arrival. Probably Irving’s return potentially sometime around the beginning of a potential Udoka tenure,” Wojnarowski said.
Wojnarowski then pointed out why the Nets went with Vaughn instead.
“I think for the Nets, they saw some stability and some traction with Jacque Vaughn in his time as the interim coach. I think a belief that he had started to stabilize this team. I think Kevin Durant and the veteran players have belief in Jacque Vaughn, as does management and ownership.”
Wojnarowski later said it was the “timing” with Ime Udoka that did not feel right to the Nets to hire him as Steve Nash’s successor.
.@wojespn with the latest on the Nets’ decision to hire Jacque Vaughn as their head coach:
Vaughn has been an assistant with the Nets since 2016 and was the interim coach between when the Nets parted ways with Kenny Atkinson and when they hired Steve Nash as their head coach.
Charania Detailed Why Nets Passed on Udoka
Charania added more details about why the Nets decided not to hire Udoka as their next head coach. According to Charania, multiple factors went into why the Nets passed on him, which went beyond the controversy surrounding Udoka.
“These factors include an investigation and due diligence process by the Nets into the suspended coach taking longer than initially expected, the outcry after word of their plan became known to people outside and inside the organization, and the short- and long-term question marks around the team’s ability to contend in the Eastern Conference as a result of the indefinite suspension of Irving,” Charania said.
Charania included that the Nets had been talking to Udoka before parting ways with former head coach Steve Nash.
“The Nets began direct communication on the potential to hire Udoka 24 to 48 hours before the franchise fired Nash last Tuesday, including receiving permission from the Celtics and engaging in initial discussions, multiple sources with knowledge of the talks told The Athletic.”
Udoka was an assistant for the Nets during the 2020-21 season before the Celtics hired him as their head coach.
Tsai Was Urged Not to Hire Udoka
On Nov. 6, Marc Stein reported that Joe Tsai was urged not to hire Udoka as the next head coach due to the issues that the Nets were already dealing with internally.
“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
11 games into the season, the Nets are currently 4-7.