A reunion is set as the Brooklyn Nets have signed Mike D’Antoni as an assistant head coach under Steve Nash. The Brooklyn Nets signed both D’Antoni and Ime Udoka as assistant head coach.
The Nets continue to build up their coaching staff for Nash, who was signed as the new head coach for the Brooklyn Nets. Added D’Antoni as an assistant coach is surprising, and it reunited both Nash and D’Antoni together. D’Antoni had previously coached with Nash when both were on the Phoenix Suns from 2004-2008. Together they were able to lead the Suns to playoff success and two western conference finals appearance. It was under D’Antoni that Nash was able to win two MVPs.
Recently, D’Antoni was the head coach for the Houston Rockets from 2016-2020. At the end of the 2020 season, D’Antoni decided to walk away and not stay for a contract extension. During his tenure with the Rockets, he was able to lead them to the playoffs regularly and led them to a western conference finals appearance. During his tenure with the Rockets, he achieved a 217-101 coaching record.
The Nets have also signed Udoka as an assistant coach. He had spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant head coach for the San Antonio Spurs under head coach Gregg Popovich. This adds to the experience as he learned under the legendary head coach.
This will certainly complement Nash coaching style as he now has two assistant coaches who had experienced success under different teams. The Nets coaching staff now looks strong and stacked. They have Nash, a Hall of Famer as head coach and D’Antoni and Udoka as assistant coaches. The major question is, how will this affect the Nets in the long run when both stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant return next season.
