The decision by the Brooklyn Nets to hire Ime Udoka as head coach appeared to be a “foregone conclusion”, according to multiples sources who spoke with Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports.
But the Udoka hire never was completed and the Nets instead named Jacque Vaughn as head coach on Wednesday. Udoka is under a suspension by the Boston Celtics for an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
When the Nets fired Steve Nash last week, Vaughn was only told that he would be overseeing the initial game against the Chicago Bulls.
“Amid public outcry, and plenty of dismay from rival team personnel, there were credible rumblings around the league that commissioner Adam Silver’s office was providing some form of friction between Brooklyn and Udoka’s hiring,” writes Fischer.