Nets Refute Report of Hiring Celtics Ime Udoka

The Brooklyn Nets General Manager, Sean Marks refuted reports the Nets have hired Ime Udoka in wake of parting ways with Steve Nash.

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The Brooklyn Nets General Manager, Sean Marks addressed the media to speak on the team's decision to part ways with Steve Nash. Marks, who holds a decades-long relationship with the former head coach, explained the conversations of mutually-dumping Nash became a discussion over the last two weeks. 

“I think that was probably the unique thing with Steve and I," said Marks on when the conversations of making a coaching change originated. "We talked daily, if not hourly, you know on a variety of different topics, subjects all the time. Enjoyed the conversations. I learned a ton from him. He's an incredibly intelligent man, and has a great feel and a great poise. His character is impeccable. So, you know, when we're having these conversations, he's aware of ‘they’re not responding to me right now’ or ‘that was not the performance I needed to see out there’ and, and so forth. So we were open with that dialogue always happening. Over the course of you know, the last week, 10 days, we've just been talking and talking and I think it came to a hit.” 

The move comes days after the Nets players held a players-only meeting following a loss to the Indiana Pacers Saturday night in Brooklyn. A strongly-voiced Marks turned down the claim that any player(s) had a voice in the coaching decision. He claims only himself, Nash, and Nets Governor, Joe Tsai were involved in those discussions. 

“Zero; there was zero input from any of the players on this," Marks said Tuesday. "I think this was a decision that we didn't need that. Steve and I didn't need that. Obviously, I've talked to Joe about this, but the players were not consulted. They were told ahead of time that this was the direction we were going to today but I don't think we needed that; That input right now.” 

Hours after the Nets disclosed Nash and the team went separate ways, numerous reports came out stating that suspended Boston Celtics head coach, Ime Udoka is the front-runner for the vacant position. The reports also claimed Udoka and the Nets are even nearing an agreement. When the Nets GM was asked if the team has already made a decision on the coach, he stated: “No, absolutely not.”

“The candidates that we're looking for are going to be bringing that [competitiveness]. That's gonna be one of their attributes: competitive and having a voice to be able to hold guys accountable," said Marks on what he's looking for in the next Nets head coach. "The same things we've mentioned, you know, over the course of the last year, a few years that that's what we wanted to.”

When Marks was specifically asked about the reports indicating the head coaching vacancy is Udoka's - a former Nets assistant under Nash during the 2020-21 season - job, he declined to give a list of possible candidates. 

“Yeah, look, I really don't think it's up to me right now to give you give a list of candidates who we're talking to, and then we're going to arise and we're going to fall on this but I would say I will reserve that for when those decisions are made," Marks said. "I couldn't give you a timeline on that. 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 we'll do our due diligence like we would with anybody. When I was hired when everybody was hired here, yeah, the organization does. Very, very thorough due diligence on anybody and you, you arrive at the best possible outcome.’

Jacque Vaughn, who was the Nets' lead assistant under Nash, will serve as acting head coach against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. Vaughn explained how he found out the news Nash and the Nets have gone separate ways. 

This afternoon. Talked to Steve. He kind of addressed the staff. And told us the situation," Vaughn said pregame. "So that was this afternoon. I’ll say unbelievable person, human being, father, coach, player, friend. To share the locker room with him, we’ve competed against each other on the court. But to be able to compete with him, unbelievable human being."