According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Boston Celtics are finalizing a deal to make Brooklyn Nets assistant Ime Udoka their next head coach.
Udoka started his coaching career in San Antonio with Gregg Popovich in 2012, staying six seasons before joining Brett Brown's staff in Philadelphia last season and then, after Brown was fired, hooking on with the Brooklyn Nets this past season.
Udoka is known as a defense-first coach, handling that end of the floor for the Nets. He was part of the Spurs championship team in 2014, meaning he has coached on teams featuring Tim Duncan, Joel Embiid, and this year's triumvirate of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving.
The Boston Celtics haven't made the announcement official yet.
Udoka started to emerge recently as a frontrunner because he ticked off a lot of boxes. Boston Celtics players have reportedly raved about him. He was one of the assistant coaches on the 2019 FIBA world cup team, so he already has experience with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart. So first and foremost, he has the players' approval. If we're looking for buy-in from the team, hiring a guy they respect and pushed for is a great start.
The experience he's had with different coaching styles is also important. Popovich commanded the room in San Antonio, but only because Tim Duncan bought into what Pop was selling. It's very much why Doc Rivers and his Ubuntu message caught on in Boston; Kevin Garnett was all in on the concept, so the team was all in and Doc was allowed to coach them.
Udoka was part of that 2014 championship run, which is great, but maybe more importantly, he was part of that 2013 Spurs Finals heartbreak. It's not just that he was on a winner in 2014, it's that he was on a team that used that 2013 disappointment as fuel to put together one of the most wonderful seasons of basketball we've seen. It should be no shock that Brad Stevens, who holds that 2014 Spurs team up as the model of offensive perfection, hired someone who was part of that squad. The resilience, focus, and selflessness of that team is something Stevens has hoped for these Celtics since he took over. This might just be his way of finally getting it.
His time in Philadelphia and Brooklyn could be equally eye-opening. He was on a team with supreme talent that fired a coach who couldn't get over the hump in Philly. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, as we've seen recently, have always been a tough mix. The dichotomy of the great Spurs teams and the imperfect Sixers teams should really highlight for Udoka what real chemistry looks like on the floor versus forced attempts at it.
It also strongly highlights the need for pieces that fit. The reason why those Spurs teams were great is that each player was selfless enough to make it so. The Sixers have been trying to bang square pegs into round holes for a while now, and it's rarely worked as well as they'd hoped. As the Celtics move forward, Udoka's experience with these situations will be necessary to get fresh perspective on who is really right for this team, and who just doesn't fit. For Stevens, getting that new perspective on a team he's tasked with re-shaping will be very important. I'm asked all the time about who Stevens will or should keep. Udoka might be the guy who gives Stevens the true clarity for that answer.
Which brings us to Udoka's job in Brooklyn, which is another key piece to him succeeding or failing in Boston.
He was one of Steve Nash's assistants, and he got to see what a first-year coach went through on a team with stars and expectations. He saw how Nash assembled a staff, dealt with his stars, and then dealt with the media.
Honestly, is there a more precarious coaching position than starting out coaching Durant, Irving, and Harden? Irving routinely disappeared for personal reasons, Durant is notorious for social media clashes, and Harden showed up after burning every bridge out of Houston. Nash handled the season gracefully, but Udoka got to see the private side of Nash as he dealt with everything. I can't sit here and tell you how Nash really felt in those moments, but Udoka knows, and he can apply those lessons in a much less volatile but still tense situation in Boston.
Let's face it, the clock is ticking on Tatum and Brown and this all has to go right fairly quickly. Tatum and Brown are different breeds of stars, but Udoka has seen enough of the league to recognize tendencies. He played in the NBA, the G-League, and internationally. He understands hustling for money and trying to find a place in the league but also what it takes to be great.
The question now is whether he can apply it as the man in charge. He's going to get his chance in Boston with some great young talent but a roster that's in flux. His boss is almost as new to the job as he is, so they're going to march down the road together, but he does have in Stevens some level of mentor if he wants it. We'll see how Udoka assembles his staff, who he keeps from the current assistants, and who he brings in from the outside.
For now, the Celtics seem to have gotten all they wanted in a new coach. Now we'll see how well it works.