The Brooklyn Nets and head coach Steve Nash have mutually agreed to part ways, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday.
It was a move that seemed inevitable since the summer when a Kevin Durant trade request reportedly came with an ultimatum for Nets owner Joe Tsai to choose between Durant or the combination of Nash and GM Sean Marks.
Fair or not, that was the beginning of the end of Nash’s time with the Nets in the minds of most, especially once Durant rescinded his request and agreed to return to the team.
But it doesn’t make the timing of Nash’s departure any less odd.
Decision was mutual with Nets and Nash, per sources.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 1, 2022
If there was a moment for the Nets to part with Nash, it would have been at the time of Durant’s reported request. The Nets were a team that folded under the weight of huge expectations last season.
The next opportunity to fire Nash would have been anytime during Brooklyn’s recent four-game skid to fall to 1-5 this season. A skid that included Nash completely blowing a gasket in a loss to the Bucks.
But for the sides to come to a “mutual” split after they snapped that skid on Monday with a win they absolutely needed to have over the Pacers, ahead of a back-to-back against the Bulls on Tuesday?
It just leaves more questions about why now? What happened? What’s next?
— Steve Nash (@SteveNash) November 1, 2022
Answers to those questions may be coming soon. According to multiple reports, the team is likely to hire suspended Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka as Nash’s replacement. Udoka is a former Nets assistant and had reportedly grown close with Durant in recent years.
Either the Nets came across new information to make them more comfortable with hiring him in the midst of what seemed to be a fitting suspension, or they were so desperate not to let another season with title expectations go to waste that they didn’t care about his recent past.
His sudden availability paired with a bad start to the season could have been a driving force in the timing of Nash’s departure. Or maybe Nash simply got tired of the ongoing circus that’s been coaching the Brooklyn Nets.
Even at 1-5, the Nets (+1400) have the sixth shortest odds at BetMGM to win this season’s championship. Nash’s fault or not, he was never going to escape the fallout of another failed season. Maybe the sides didn’t need another loss to see where things were headed.
