Could Former Knick Ime Udoka Become New Nets' Coach?

Does a new opportunity await the former New York Knick after his suspension?

As the New York Knicks and their supporters look on with potential schadenfreude at the ongoing situation in Brooklyn, a former bearer of the blue and orange could prove to be the borough's next hope at hardwood salvation. 

In the wake of the Brooklyn Nets mutually parting ways with head coach Steve Nash, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that while assistant Jacque Vaughn is set to take over as interim boss (reprising a role he held after Kenny Atkinson's firing in 2020), the team is seeking to interview potential long-term hires. 

Among them is brief Knicks' on-court representative and current Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, who is currently serving a season's suspension for a violation of team policy, said to be a relationship with a female staffer. Udoka spent eight games of a seven-year playing career with the Knicks in 2006 and he later interviewed for the team's head coaching job before Tom Thibodeau's arrival. 

Having also served as an assistant coach in San Antonio and Philadelphia, Udoka is perhaps best known for directing Boston to last season's NBA Finals, where they fell to Golden State in six games. Wojnarowski has stated that the Celtics, who have called upon Joe Mazzulla to serve as the head coach this season, are willing to let Udoka take another job. 

The Knicks and Nets will do battle for the first of four times this season next Wednesday, four nights after they face the aforementioned Celtics in at Madison Square Garden, Their next contest comes on Wednesday in Manhattan against the Atlanta Hawks (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG). 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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