NY Knicks: Ranking the expanded list of coaching candidates
Knicks Coaching Candidates: Ime Udoka
If you are a diehard Knicks fan, you might remember that Ime Udoka played eight games for the blue and orange in 2005-06. However, the former NBA forward has built a more recognizable career in coaching since retiring from the league.
Udoka joined the Spurs coaching staff in 2012, working closely with future Hall-of-Fame coach Gregg Popovich, where he remained until last summer when he joined Brett Brown’s staff in Philadelphia.
How coveted was Udoka to make him leave the franchise where he cut his teeth in coaching? Philadelphia made him one of the highest paid assistants in the NBA. A three-year deal that he would obviously escape for a chance to coach the Knicks.
Udoka used his background as a player to forge special relationships with young 76ers stars, such as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. As the league becomes more geared toward its star players, a coach needs to do more than just know the X’s and O’s. Udoka seems to have a command on both managing the game and everything that surrounds it.
As other candidates could become strong considerations for assistant roles, if they aren’t hired for the lead job, it would seem Udoka would return to his lucrative position in Philadelphia unless Leon Rose offers him the head spot. The Knicks wouldn’t be interviewing him if they didn’t consider him a serious candidate.