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The Brooklyn Nets owner is reportedly being urged not to replace Steve Nash with suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka.
The Nets parted ways with coach Nash amid a brutal 2-5 start, and banned coach Udoka has emerged as the favorite to replace the two-time MVP. Celtics guard Marcus Smart expressed disappointment Wednesday that Udoka looked set to join the Nets.
But team owner Joseph Tsai is being strongly encouraged to consider someone else for the post, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein.
The Brooklyn Nets owner is reportedly being urged not to replace Steve Nash (left) with suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka (right)
Nets owner Joseph Tsai (center) has got a big decision to make after getting rid of Nash
The Nets are in the spotlight amid the Kyrie Irving saga and following a tumultuous offseason involving Irving and Kevin Durant and the report claims that intense scrutiny is a factor.
Since news of Nash’s firing first surfaced Tuesday, both ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania have reported that Udoka is expected to be the next head coach in Brooklyn.
In September, Udoka received a year-long ban from the Celtics after allegations of an improper affair with a female club employee surfaced. Boston would be willing to let Udoka leave, even though he remains under contract, Wojnarowski reports. Udoka actually served as an assistant coach under Nash during the 2020-21 campaign.
Multiple outlets reported about Udoka’s affair in September, with ESPN adding that an independent investigation revealed that the first-year head coach ‘used crude language in his dialogue with a female subordinate prior to the start of an improper workplace relationship.’
According to Wojnarowski, the Nets have been probing the circumstances around Udoka’s ban, hoping that he can help improve the league’s 29th-ranked defensive team. Udoka has not only worked with Nets stars Durant and Irving, but also spent time as an assistant in Philadelphia, where he coached current Nets forward Ben Simmons.
Udoka’s Celtics swept the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of last season’s playoffs
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, general manager Sean Marks said that the players, including Irving and Durant, did not have any say in Nash’s dismissal. He went on to deny reports that he has already settled on Udoka as a replacement.
‘I would say I will reserve that for when those decisions are made and I couldn’t give you a timeline on that,’ Marks said. ‘Obviously there’s a reason why we made this move when we did, because time is ticking. So we do want this process to be a thorough one, we’re not going to skip steps on that and then we’ll do our due diligence like in any way.’
Former Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder was also named by Wojnarowski as a potential replacement.
Nash, 48, finished his first head-coaching tenure with a 92-62 record and two playoff appearances.
Udoka’s alleged affair became tabloid fodder, since his longtime fiance and mother of his son is actress Nia Long, of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame.
Long reportedly had moved to Boston in the weeks before the scandal surfaced in September, only to tell TMZ that she was blindsided by the affair.
DailyMail.com can reveal the Celtics employee who had an affair with coach Ime Udoka (pictured left with fiancee Nia Long), 45, is team service manager Kathleen Nimmo Lynch, 34
The specifics of the allegations surrounding Udoka have not been fully revealed, but retired NBA forward Matt Barnes promised they’re ‘100 times uglier than any of us thought.’
The female employee in question was team service manager Kathleen Nimmo Lynch, 34, a married mother-of-three, DailyMail.com reported last month. The Celtics have not identified the woman Udoka was involved with, but Lynch’s name had been leaked online.
Lynch served as a team liaison arranging travel, lodging and game tickets for Celtics family members at home and on the road, and is likely to have arranged travel for Udoka’s fiancee, Long.
Nash faced his share of turmoil in Brooklyn, mostly involving Durant and Irving.
Nash bid farewell to the Nets on Tuesday (left) after two tumultuous years with Brooklyn stars Kevin Durant (near right) and Kyrie Irving (far right)
A Hall of Fame point guard with the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, Nash went 48-24 with Brooklyn in his first season as head coach before beating the rival Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. Ultimately the Nets fell to the eventual-champion Milwaukee Bucks in the second round as Irving and James Harden battled injuries.
Things got more complicated for Nash in 2021-22, due largely to Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated, in violation of a local COVID-19 mandate. As a result, Irving missed all but 29 regular-season games last season before the vaccine mandate was lifted. The Nets were ultimately swept by Boston in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs.
Exacerbating issues for the Nets was the disgruntled Harden, who was eventually dealt to Philadelphia in exchange for Ben Simmons.
Then, over the summer, Durant demanded that team owner Tsai fire Marks and Nash or trade him elsewhere. The three ultimately met together in LA in August, agreeing to work together this season.
But things have not gotten off to a good start this season in Brooklyn. During Wednesday’s loss, for instance, a fuming Nash was ejected for arguing with officials for the first time in his coaching career.
Irving ignited controversy last week after sharing a link to a film based on a book described as ‘venomously anti-Semitic
He became embroiled in a verbal spat with a report over his controversial tweet
Irving ignited controversy last week. He was suspended by the Nets Thursday night for at least five games after sharing a link to a film based on a book described as ‘venomously anti-Semitic’.
The 30-year-old has faced backlash and criticism for the post but initially refused to stand down or apologize for his actions until his suspension Thursday when he finally released a statement saying he ‘was deeply sorry’.
The Durant-Irving era in Brooklyn was supposed to result in a first NBA title for the Nets, but has fallen well short of expectations.
The two perennial All-Stars signed in Brooklyn in 2019 for a combined $300million despite the fact that Durant would need to sit out his first season with the team due to a ruptured Achilles that he suffered in the previous NBA Finals.
Irving nearly opted out of his contract this summer before agreeing to stay with the team for the final season and $36m of the deal.
Durant, meanwhile, signed a four-year, $198m extension with the team in August of 2021, and can’t become a free agent until 2026.
Both Durant and Irving seemed dismissive of Nash at times during their brief tenure together.
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