The Brooklyn Nets will boast of an impressive offensive mastermind on the sidelines next season, as Mike D’Antoni has agreed to a deal to become an assistant coach on Steve Nash‘s staff.
D’Antoni left his role as head coach of the Houston Rockets shortly after the team lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Lakers, and many believed he would find another head coaching position around the league.
D’Antoni was attached to multiple jobs during his free agency, including the Pelicans and the Pacers. But around mid-October, it was reported that the two-time Coach of the Year was a potential candidate to join the Nets coaching staff.
D’Antoni joining Brooklyn’s staff forms a reunion with Steve Nash, who he coached during two separate stints throughout Nash’s career. Most notably, though, was their time in Phoenix, when D’Antoni was at the helm while Nash was the star point guard. The two orchestrated one of the most prolific offences in league history, with the Seven Seconds or Less Suns.
Nash will now have the opportunity to lean on a coach who helped him secure two league MVP awards and played an integral role in him becoming a Hall of Fame player as he begins his first head coaching job.
Both of them will be able to come up with creative ways to use their two stars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and will no doubt have an offence that can put a lot of points on the board.
Ime Udoka who spent seven years under Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, and most recently a season with the Philadelphia 76ers will also be joining D’Antoni on the coaching staff.
Udoka was also being considered for several head coaching gigs around the league just as D’antoni, including the Bulls and the Sixers but now, Udoka will be able to bring what he learned under Popovich’s stewardship to a Nets team that has championship aspirations next season.
Nash has now been able to assemble quite the impressive coaching staff for a first-timer with the addition of D’Antoni and Udoka.
Jacque Vaughn will continue as the Nets top assistant coach, and former teammate Amar’e Stoudemire will also join him as an assistant focusing on player development.
Stoudemire and Nash played together for several seasons for the Suns where they formed one of the best pick-and-roll combinations in the mid-2000s.
The Nets look set to be a serious title contender for next season, and it will be interesting to see what this offence looks like with Irving and Durant at the centre of it all with this coaching staff.
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