It was around this time last year that then-Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka found himself among the hottest names in the NBA.
A longtime assistant under the legendary Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs, he had Boston in the midst of a season that culminated with an appearance in the NBA Finals.
Fast forward a calendar year, and Udoka’s future in the Association is not known. The former player was suspended by Boston for the entire 2022-23 season after he allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member.
A week after Boston named Joe Mazzulla as Udoka’s full-time replacement, we could be getting some clarity on this situation.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported Wednesday evening that Udoka is being considered by the Atlanta Hawks’ brass as a potential replacement for the recently-fired Nate McMillan as the team’s head coach. Udoka, 45, joins Milwaukee Bucks assistants Charles Lee and former Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder as several known candidates for the Hawks’ opening.
McMillan was fired by Atlanta earlier in the week after leading the team to a disappointing 29-30 record heading into the All-Star Break. The backdrop here was a contentious relationship with star guard Trae Young. He’s a figure that any known candidate for the full-time opening in Atlanta must contend with.
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Ime Udoka as a fit for the Atlanta Hawks’ opening
There’s a lot of moving parts when it comes to both Udoka and the Hawks. As Sportsnaut’s Lee Escobedo opined recently, there’s internal issues within the Hawks organization. It has to do with potential nepotism and the son of an owner running things.
“In the summer, former Hawks GM Travis Schlenk traded for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray from the San Antonio Spurs in a move that was reportedly influenced by Nick Ressler, the 27-year-old son of owner Tony Ressler. Nick Ressler is the Director of Business and Basketball Operations, a dubious and ambiguous title devoid of defined responsibility and influence. But it’s obvious, as the owner’s son, he is calling the shots.”
Lee Escobedo on Atlanta Hawks drama
As for Ime Udoka, his expulsion from the Celtics’ franchise was among the largest early-season storylines around the Association. He was a finalist for the NBA Coach of the Year a season ago and had gained a reputation for being one of the best young assistants in the game under the legendary Popovich.
Once the Brooklyn Nets fired Steve Nash a handful of games into the season, reports indicated that Udoka was favored to land the job. Instead, they opted to go with an internal candidate in Jacque Vaughn. It’s an open question whether pushback from within the NBA led to Brooklyn making that decision.
What we do know is that the Hawks have not lived up to expectations since earning a surprise trip to the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2020-21. Young is an enigmatic figure internally. Meanwhile, the blockbuster trade for Dejounte Murray has not panned out. Bringing in Ime Udoka could open a completely different can of worms in Atlanta.