Boston Celtics: FS1 host believes Ime Udoka will elevate Nets
Undisputed with Skip and Shannon co-host Skip Bayless believes that the formerly suspended Boston Celtics head coach will thrive in his new role as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets — a job he inherited in the ashes of the Steve Nash firing on November 1.
Despite reporters saying that Udoka would likely never coach in the NBA again, Brooklyn hired him in a last-ditch effort to make something of the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving duo that was signed in 2019 and has produced a single postseason series triumph.
Irving is a free agent in the 2023 offseason and Durant is mere months removed from a trade request. This is likely the last play Joe Tsai has before cutting ties with the duo since Sean Marks was the architect for not only convincing the pair to play for a team with zero NBA Championships in its history (ABA not included) but also drafting future impact players like Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, and Nic Claxton, as well as unearthing undrafted free agent gems like Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris and turning them into starting caliber pros.
Bayless endorsed Udoka in a tweet hours after the hiring was first announced by Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday, saying that a defensive culture is about to be instilled whether the Nets’ stars like it or not:
Ime Udoka will be no pushover for KD/Kyrie. He will install&instill a defensive mindset whether his superstars like it or not. Life is about to change in Netsland. Congrats, Sean Marks.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 1, 2022
Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown shared Ime Udoka news on social media
Jaylen Brown’s sharing of the Ime Udoka-Nets news, presented without comment, is interesting given the 2022 summer of trade rumors involving him being swapped with Brooklyn superstar Kevin Durant.
That the thumbnail featured Udoka and Durant really gives the story legs. It’s unclear what Brown feels about Udoka being confirmed to no longer be the head coach of the Boston Celtics, but it is clear that he feels something.
The lack of a comment almost speaks volumes in and of itself. Not many can find words after such a shocking development that many didn’t believe Stephen A. Smith about when he first talked about this as a possibility.