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The Brooklyn Nets are bringing in an All-Star team to surround Steve Nash in his first season as head coach. Not only does Nash have a few All-Stars on the court in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the former PG is bringing in his former coach in Mike D’Antoni, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The two were together on the Phoenix Suns from 2005-2008. The Nets are also adding Ime Udoka to the bench, a former Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach who was being considered for multiple head coaching jobs.
D’Antoni and Udoka will join Amar’e Stoudemire, who was hired by the Nets last week to serve as an assistant. So you’ve already got a hell of a reunion tour going on with Nash, Stoudemire and D’Antoni all on the same bench. It’s clear that the Nets are going to try and duplicate the type of offense Nash was accustomed to on the Suns and D’Antoni used during his time with the Houston Rockets.
Prior to joining the Sixers this past season, Udoka was a well-regarded assistant for Gregg Popovich on the San Antonio Spurs. Udoka went over to Philly to help out Brett Brown, who was fired by the Sixers after being swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2020 playoffs.