The Brooklyn Nets have decided to make the first move of this season: as reported by ESPN and The Athletic, the franchise has sacked head coach Steve Nash, who pays off the bad start to the regular season with two wins and five losses. The decision was defined as consensual between the two parties.
Nash had been hired as head coach of the Nets in the fall of 2020, but in just over two seasons at the helm of the team he failed to establish himself in the locker room, so much so that during the summer Kevin Durant had placed his dismissal ( and that of chief executive Sean Marks) as a condition for his return to Brooklyn. Owner Joe Tsai had defended his coach and general manager by confirming them in his place, but the bad start to the season – in which Nash also showed some nervousness, as evidenced by the violent reaction to his expulsion against Milwaukee – led to the rupture.
A few minutes after the news of Nash’s departure, the names of possible replacements have already begun to circulate. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets have already asked about Ime Udoka, coach suspended by the Boston Celtics (who would not oppose his departure) and former assistant to Nash in 2020-21, and Quin Snyder, currently out of work after the end of his experience at the Utah Jazz.