Add Ime Udoka’s former players to the list of those confused by the Nets’ seemingly imminent hire of the ex-Celtics coach.
Celtics guard Marcus Smart told the Boston Globe “it makes no sense” that the Nets are able to hire Udoka just six weeks after the Celtics suspended him for the entire season for an improper relationship with a subordinate.
“His name got slandered and slaughtered and it was, ‘He’ll probably never coach again,'” Smart told The Globe. “And a couple of months later, now he’s possibly going to be the coach of one of our biggest rivals?
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Simmons: We’ve had an honest chat 01:18
“It’s tough. It makes no sense. But we can’t control that. We have to control what we can and I love the team here. I love the coaching staff. I love Joe [Mazzulla].”
Udoka led the Celtics to an NBA Finals appearance last season in his first season as a head coach in the league, but didn’t get a chance to try to build on it. According to reports, Udoka used inappropriate language with a female subordinate and carried on an improper relationship.
“Obviously we wish he was here,” Smart said. “We have no control over that. It definitely sucks. I guess it was deemed that whatever happened was enough for him not to be the coach here, but I guess not enough for him [not] to be a coach anywhere else, obviously.”
Udoka’s name was connected to the Nets vacancy within hours after Brooklyn fired Steve Nash on Tuesday, although general manager Sean Marks maintained that no hire had been made and the team would conduct due diligence on candidates when speaking to reporters Tuesday evening.
Jaylen Brown supported Udoka getting another shot.
“I’m just happy to see a Black head coach end up back on his feet,” Brown said, “because I’ve seen situations where something like this might not have been the case.”
This story originally appeared on the New York Post.
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