The Brooklyn Nets continue to invite controversy into their building, and now are rightfully catching flak for it.
Kyrie Irving’s anti-Semitic social media promotion now has been compounded by the Nets “mutually” parting ways with head coach Steve Nash and reportedly seeking suspended head coach Ime Udoka to take over his position. Less than six weeks ago, Udoka was suspended from the Boston Celtics for the 2022-23 campaign due to violations of team policy, which reportedly related to an improper relationship with a team staffer. It felt like Udoka wouldn’t coach the Celtics again after the team announced its suspension.
NBA analyst Jay Williams questioned Brooklyn’s willingness to do so given the hoopla the organization finds itself in. It’s clearly a case of desperate times calling for even more desperate measures. The New Jersey native also took a rather blunt shot at the organization’s current standing in the league’s hierarchy.
“It just feels like if you’re Joe Tsai, you’re all in right now. Here’s what I am going to say: Is Ime Udoka a coach that can potentially change the culture? Yes. Does he give you a higher winning probability than Steve Nash? Yes,” Williams said on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Wednesday morning. “But it does feel like, and this is coming from a New Jersey Nets fan, it feels like the Nets are the black eye of the NBA. It feels like they are the most unlikeable team maybe in the history of basketball. You tell me, how you root for this team?
“There are a lot of questions around what happened with Kyrie over the last couple months, the last couple years. KD giving the ultimatum to Joe Tsai about, ‘Hey, it’s either me, Steve Nash or (general manager) Sean Marks. People are asking, ‘Is there a coup going on?’ You bring Ime Udoka in. And here’s the thing about Ime Udoka, like I said great coach, but think about this for a second: The Boston Celtics gave him up with no trade compensation. Zero trade compensation. They got a first-round pick for Doc Rivers in 2013. They didn’t ask for anything! What’s that say optically about about where the Nets are right now?”
Williams further acknowledged how, despite Udoka’s on-court success in helping the Celtics reach the NBA Finals in his first season, he’s unsure if the 45-year-old can even help this Nets team. It’s an opinion mirrored by many others, including ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
“Well, it isn’t meant to be. The reality, though, is that you’re stuck,” Williams said. “I truly think this team is going to dissipate before it’s all said and done. I don’t even know, as good of a coach as Ime Udoka is, if he can fix all the questions looming around this team and their leadership.”
The Celtics reportedly will let Udoka, who remains under contract with Boston, to leave freely. Wojnarowski said Tuesday he could see Udoka’s official departure for Brooklyn taking place within the next 24 to 48 hours.
