NBA News Today: Brooklyn Nets fire Steve Nash, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal call Kyrie Irving an "idiot", and more
Following their slow start to the 2022-2023 NBA season, the Brooklyn Nets have decided to move on from head coach Steve Nash.
In other news, Nets All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving has been called out by NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. This comes after Irving was in the news regarding his alleged anti-Semitism.
On that note, here are the top news stories from around the NBA as of Nov. 2nd, 2022.
Brooklyn Nets fire Steve Nash
The Brooklyn Nets announced on Tuesday that they have parted ways with head coach Steve Nash following their 2-5 start. The Nets were coming off a 116-109 win over the Indiana Pacers at the time. However, given the Nets' defensive struggles and recent off-court issues involving Kyrie Irving, the team felt they needed a fresh voice.
Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks later issued a thank you statement to Nash.
“Since becoming head coach, Steve was faced with a number of unprecedented challenges, and we are sincerely grateful for his leadership, patience and humility throughout his tenure,” Marks said.
Marks also explained how difficult the decision was.
“Personally, this was an immensely difficult decision; however, after much deliberation and evaluation of how the season has begun, we agreed that a change is necessary at this time,” Marks said.
Nets owner Joe Tsai also expressed his respect for Nash in his own statement.
“My admiration and respect for him grew over time as he brought hard work and positive attitude to our organization every day, even in periods of exceptional storm surrounding the team,” Tsai said.
Nash then thanked the Tsai family and Marks for giving him a chance.
“It was an amazing experience with many challenges that I’m incredibly grateful for,” Nash said.
https://t.co/GUGhBtHKUL
Steve Nash now finishes with a coaching record of 94-67 over two-plus seasons in Brooklyn, his first stint as an NBA head coach. The Nets made the NBA Playoffs in both of his full seasons with the team but failed to make it past the second round both times.
Nets assistant coach Jacque Vaughn has since been announced as the Nets' interim head coach. His first game was on Tuesday night against the Chicago Bulls. The Nets went on to lose the game 108-99 to fall to 2-6 on the season. They now sit at just 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Brooklyn Nets expected to hire Ime Udoka as next head coach
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Brooklyn Nets aren’t expected to wait long to announce their next head coach. Brooklyn is reportedly already finalizing a deal to hire suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka. Wojnarowski said that a formal agreement between the Nets and Udoka is expected to be reached as soon as Wednesday.
Suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka has emerged as the likely next Brooklyn Nets head coach and his hiring could be finalized as soon as the next 24-to-48 hours, sources tell ESPN. Celtics will let him leave for another job.
The Nets will keep assistant coach Jacque Vaughn as the team’s interim head coach until Udoka can start.
Boston previously suspended Udoka for the entire 2022-2023 NBA season after he had an improper relationship with a female staff member. It is unclear if Udoka will return to the Celtics when his suspension ends next year. However, Wojnarowski said the Celtics had already given Udoka permission to speak with other teams and are not requesting draft compensation to let him out of his contract.
The Nets hope that Udoka will be able to move past his personal issues and revive the Nets' 28th ranked team defensive rating (118.3). Last season, Udoka led the Celtics to an NBA-best 106.2 defensive rating and their first NBA Finals appearance since 2010. So it will be interesting to see if Udoka can have similar success in Brooklyn if he is in fact offered the job.
The hope is that Udoka can tighten the Nets defensively and command the respect of franchise's key players. Udoka spent a season on Steve Nash's staff before accepting the Celtics job and winning the Eastern Conference. With suspension, his future in Boston was essentially over.
NBA legends Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal call Kyrie Irving an "idiot"
Continuing with the Brooklyn Nets drama, the NBA on TNT crew spoke about the recent controversy surrounding Kyrie Irving before the Nets' Tuesday night loss. Irving has been in the news lately after he shared a link to an anti-Semitic film on Twitter last week and later argued with reporters.
NBA legend and TNT host Shaquille O'Neal called Irving an idiot and said he doesn't want to be answering for what Irving has done. Fellow NBA legend and TNT co-host Charles Barkley also called Irving an idiot and said he thinks Irving should have been suspended.
"I think he should have been suspended. I think Adam (Silver) should have suspended him. … They made a mistake. … I can't believe we're talking about this idiot," Barkley said.
"I think he should have been suspended. Adam Silver should have suspended him. They made a mistake. I can't believe we're talking about this idiot."
Charles Barkley on Kyrie Irving
#NBATwitter https://t.co/dnlykjx6i4
The Brooklyn Nets are obviously in a bad spot both on the court (2-6) and off the court given their publicity issues with Irving. Add in the fact that they just fired their coach and the whole situation is looking pretty chaotic. So hopefully both Irving and the Nets will be able to right the ship at some point this season.
Miami Heat hand the Warriors their third straight loss
The Golden State Warriors’ early-season struggles continued as the team lost their third straight game, after falling 116-109 to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. Following the loss, the defending champions now sit at just 3-5 and 12th in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, Miami improved to 3-5 and 12th in the Eastern Conference.
Warriors superstar point guard Stephen Curry finished with a triple-double, the 10th of his career, but it still wasn’t enough for Golden State.
10th career triple-double for SC30 💪 https://t.co/rnzh0d8kUj
The game came down to the wire with Heat All-Star forward Jimmy Butler eventually hitting a clutch dagger midrange shot. The shot put the Heat up five with just under 10 seconds remaining.
🗑️Jimmy Butler secures the W with this clutch shot🏀🗑️
@JimmyButler
#NBA #JimmyButler #MiamiHeat #Warriors @MiamiHeat @Warriors https://t.co/y5ljqmcETT
The game marked a revenge game for Miami, who had just lost to the Warriors 123-110 on Thursday night. The Heat and Warriors have now split their regular season series 1-1. They will not face each other again unless they both reach the 2023 NBA Finals. However, given the fact that both teams are currently 12 seeds, that isn’t looking very likely.
Cavaliers’ Darius Garland practices for first time since eye injury
Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star point guard Darius Garland has reportedly gone through his first full-contact practice since suffering a left eye injury. The injury occurred back on opening night on October 19 against the Toronto Raptors and has sidelined Garland since.
However, Garland could now make his return Wednesday night at home against the Boston Celtics. He is currently listed as questionable.
Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff recently spoke about Garland's progression.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” Bickerstaff said.
“He went through everything. It’s how he’s feeling tomorrow and what the swelling looks like. But he was good today. He’s done enough to go ahead and play if he’s gonna play,” Bickerstaff continued.
The Cavs have gone 5-0 without Garland as Donovan Mitchell has played at a superstar level for Cleveland as their primary ball handler. Mitchell currently has averages of 32.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game on 49.6% shooting through six games.
The Cavs, as a team, are also shooting a league-best 42.7% from three. However, they will still be more than happy to welcome their All-Star point guard back into the mix.