Marcus Smart isn’t happy with Ime Udoka potentially becoming the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets in the coming weeks.
Ime Udoka was suspended for the season by the Boston Celtics after reports emerged about him having relations with someone within the organization and it was against the policies. Although Udoka wasn’t fired by the Celtics, he is now set to become the new head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
The Brooklyn Nets and Steve Nash parted ways a couple of days ago and now Ime Udoka is rumored to be the new head coach of the Nets. Following the revelation of this news, reigning DPOY, Marcus Smart wasn’t much happy.
Smart loved Udoka as the head coach of the Celtics as he led them to the NBA Finals last season. Now, their former head coach will be joining the Nets and that is a big blow for the Celtics.
Talking about it, Smart said, “Obviously, we wish he was here. 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.”
He added, “His name got slandered and slaughtered and it was, ‘He’ll probably never coach again,. And a couple of months later, now he’s possibly going to be the coach of one of our biggest rivals?”
Smart knows the importance that Ime Udoka had in the Celtics’ run to the NBA Finals last season and joining the Brooklyn Nets, who already have one of the best rosters in the NBA will make them a serious contender for the NBA Championship this season.
Ime Udoka transformed himself into one of the best coaches in the NBA in just his rookie season last year. As a result of that many teams were interested in getting him once the Celtics suspended him. Brooklyn Nets made the right decision by approaching him but Marcus Smart isn’t at all happy with all of it.
Talking about Udoka joining the Nets, Smart said, “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.”
He added, “It really doesn’t matter what we say [to the front office], We can voice our opinion, but I’m sure it’s going to be, ‘Yeah, we hear you.’ And that’s it. I’m sure they know how certain people feel. But it is tough, because there’s only so much that they can say. It’s a tough spot for everybody. It just sucks all around.”
Marcus Smart expected Ime Udoka to be back with the Boston Celtics following his suspension. Due to it, this potential move for Udoka to be the next head coach of the Brooklyn Nets has left Smart stunned and shocked.
Smart further said, “We obviously thought he’d be back, but obviously the team and organization felt a different way, Unfortunately, that’s the business side of it and we have to deal with it. Now he’s possibly going to take a job right down the street from us and be coaching the same guys we were trying to beat to get to where we were last year.”
The Brooklyn Nets are in a mess of their own with Kyrie Irving now getting suspended by the franchise for his anti-semitic comments, and Udoka has a huge task on his hands to get that team back on track.
Kevin Durant is still playing well and they have an elite roster but so far things haven’t worked out well for them. Hopefully, Ime Udoka will be able to bring the best out of everyone in Brooklyn.
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