We have quite the development on the NBA head coach front.
The Brooklyn Nets plan to hire suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka as their new head coach after parting ways with Steve Nash on Tuesday, The Athletic's Shams Charania reports.
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Udoka is serving a season-long suspension in Boston for violations of team policies. He's still technically under contract with the Celtics, so it's unclear whether Boston would get compensation from the Nets in return. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Udoka's hiring in Brooklyn could be finalized "as soon as the next 24-to-48 hours."
UPDATE (3:20 p.m.) The Celtics will not seek compensation from the Nets and will allow Udoka to move on from the team, TNT's Chris Haynes reports.
The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn suggested the Celtics are "pleased" with the work of Joe Mazzulla, who is 3-2 in his first five games as Boston's interim head coach, and that it was unlikely Udoka would return as Boston's head coach in 2023-24 following his suspension.
Udoka has a strong connection to Brooklyn; he was an assistant coach on Nash's staff during the 2020-21 season before taking Boston's head coach job in June 2021, so he has worked with Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Boston Celtics
Still, he'll face an uphill battle with a Brooklyn team that has been marred by dysfunction and was swept out of the first round of the 2022 postseason by Udoka's Celtics.
The Celtics will visit the Nets on Dec. 4 for their first of four meetings in 2022-23.