Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks has remained coy on the organization’s decision to not hire Ime Udoka and has also revealed that he has yet to talk to Kyrie Irving since his team suspension, nearly a week ago, though he has remained in touch with the player’s representatives.
‘Nothing to share,’ Marks told reporters on Wednesday, ahead of the Battle of New York at the Barclays Center. ‘At the appropriate time, when we do talk and if there’s an update to share, I will certainly share it.’
It was only last Thursday when Irving was deemed ‘currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets,’ according to a team statement, following ‘repeated failures’ to repudiate antisemitic claims when ‘given a clear opportunity to do so’ after the promotion of ‘a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate.’
Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks has not been in contact with Kyrie Irving and remained coy over speculation on Ime Udoka’s snub for the head coaching role
Irving has been banned from the Nets for a minimum five games due to ‘repeated failures’ to repudiate antisemitic claims when ‘given a clear opportunity to do so’
Former Boston head coach Ime Udoka was heavily considered by the Nets, but ‘strong voices’ opted the franchise’s front office not to go with its preferred candidate
The 30-year-old, Australia born point guard was handed a five-game suspension, as a result, and his return depends on certain circumstances, including ‘apologizing / condemning [the] movie, a $500k donation to anti-hate causes, sensitivity training, antisemitic training, meet with ADL, Jewish leaders and meet with [owner] Joe Tsai to demonstrate understanding,’ according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Last Friday, it was revealed by ESPN that the Nets and Irving had reached a point of no communication and that talks were only held with his agent and stepmother, Shetellia Ray.
During that time, owner Joe Tsai countered any noise relating to indefinitely suspend the one-time NBA champion, a stance that both Marks and league commissioner Adam Silver were allegedly unwilling to take, as he preferred to give his star another chance to apologize, as well as redeem and educate himself.
Irving was fortunate to have the Nets owner on his side, as it was reported that he was ignoring Tsai’s text messages and rejected the thought of meeting with Anti-Defamation League.
The seven-time NBA All-Star, however, was quick to come out of his shell and shared a public apology on his Instagram profile not long afterwards. He was then asked to meet with Silver, with whom he spoke ‘productively’ with, league sources reported.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was allegedly against the hiring of Udoka, who’s been serving a season-long ban for failing to disclose an affair he had with a female Celtics employee
Nets owner Joe Tsai countered any noise relating to indefinitely suspend Irving from the team
Irving’s suspension is up to the player, Marks previously reiterated, as he essentially said, ‘there wasn’t enough dialogue’ between the Nets organization and the former Celtic and Cavalier ‘throughout all of this,’ according to The Athletic.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s general manager remained tight lipped over the franchise’s plans to go with ex-Celtics head coach Ime Udoka as the leader of the team’s bench.
‘Like all other searches we’ve ever done, whether it’s front office of coaching staff, it’s never appropriate to talk about who may or may not have been a candidate for this job,’ Marks stressed. ‘All I can tell you is that there was an exhaustive search, we went through candidates, and we’ll leave it at that.’
Before the Nets gave assistant Jacque Vaughn the reigns to lead the team as their newest head coach, it was reported by Marc Stein that ‘strong voices’ had led to Tsai’s unwillingness to hire Udoka, who was handed a season-long ban by the Celtics for a ‘volume of violations’, Boston owner Wyc Grouscbeck previous stated, implying the teamless head coach’s affair with a female employee.
Silver was part of these ‘strong voices,’ according to NetsDaily.
Durant and Marks were reportedly in favor of bringing Udoka to the fold after the firing of ex-head coach Steve Nash
Tsai’s persistence to block all the noise surrounding Irving’s suspension and Udolka’s close ties with the organization seemed to have paid off, with the Nets having gone 2-2 under Vaughn after beating the Wizards and Hornets. The team’s two losses have come against teams with better records than them in the Mavericks and Bulls.
‘Personally I like the way the team has been playing,’ Marks said. ‘I mean, they’ve been competing at a high level. They’ve obviously rallied around each other. They’ve rallied around the coaching staff. They’ve rallied around JV. He’s been the catalyst for that, so I’ve gotta give him credit.’
And although the Nets GM and franchise player Kevin Durant were poised to appoint Udolka after Steve Nash’s family, the organization, as a whole, is giving credit where credit is due.
‘JV is more than deserving of this,’ Marks added. ‘He has shown, he’s proved it. So we factored in what we knew about JV and the person he is.’
The Nets have decided to go ahead with assistant head coach Jacque Vaughn as the team’s new leader
Vaughn seems to have rejuvenated a team that has been in somewhat of a crisis for all the wrong reasons lately and is ‘OK’ with rumors claiming he wasn’t the Nets’ first hiring choice.
‘I said to my wife, I might’ve not been her first choice and we’ve been together 20 years, so it can all work out,’ the 47-year joked.
One of the first challenges that the new Nets head coach will have to face sooner rather than later is reopening lines of communication with Irving since last week’s suspension.
‘I hadn’t talked to Ky,’ Vaughn said. ‘And I still haven’t. I thought in the capacity that I was serving that it wasn’t my place to. I’ve always understood my boundaries as an assistant coach. That could change going forward in the position that I’m in now.’
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