Now that more details continue to emerge, a clearer picture is being painted with regard to the Brooklyn Nets' shocking decision to fire Steve Nash as their head coach.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has chimed in on these rather unexpected developments, and as always, the renowned NBA guru had a few Woj bombs to impart. For starters, he described how the Nets' sluggish start to the new season turned out to be a “worst-case scenario” for Nash. Brooklyn's apparent defensive shortcomings were exposed, particularly during their four-game losing streak. The situation was further compounded by Ben Simmons' injury, and of course, the whole Kyrie Irving antisemitic scandal.
As shocked as most of us were with the news, it turns out that Nash himself knew this was coming. As a matter of fact, Woj reports that the now-ex-Nets head coach already threw in the towel days before his firing (h/t ClutchPoints on Twitter):
“I think for Steve Nash, as much as Brooklyn felt that they had gone as far as they could with him as head coach, he felt the same — that he was just not the coach for this team anymore,” Woj said. “They've been discussing this over recent days. Ownership, Steve Nash, Sean Marks, their GM, made the decision today that they were gonna part ways.”
It sounds like Steve Nash had already acceptable what turned out to be an inevitable turn of events. I guess the silver lining here is that his divorce with the Nets seems amicable, and I'm pretty sure the organization wishes nothing but the best for him moving forward.
With Nash out of the picture, disgraced Celtics coach Ime Udoka has emerged as the next man up for the Nets. Woj confirmed reports indicating that the hiring of Udoka as the new Nets head coach is now all but a formality:
“Now, the hiring of Ime Udoka, the suspended Celtics coach, is imminent,” Woj said. “That could be completed, I'm told, as soon as tomorrow.”
Steve Nash parts ways with the Nets after two tumultuous seasons at the helm. He leaves the team with a 94-67 record and a heavily bruised ego.