Sixers coaching candidate: Ime Udoka
Ime Udoka’s professional career spanned from 2000 to 2012, where he spent time both overseas and in the NBA. Upon his retirement in 2012, Udoka immediately joined his former coach Gregg Popovich on the Spurs bench, where he worked his way up to lead assistant before making the jump to Philadelphia’s bench in 2019.
Last season, Udoka served as the Sixers’ defensive coordinator. Philadelphia underperformed on that end to some degree, but it wasn’t for lack of schematic cleverness or competent coaching. When you have a roster built for 1990 in 2020, the defense will naturally have some blind spots.
Udoka has long been in the conversation for head coaching gigs around the league. He’s an experienced assistant under the Michael Jordan of coaches. The Popovich Coaching Tree is lush foliage, with branches weaving throughout the entirety of NBA basketball. Anyone who spends time under Popovich is, to some, a decent bet to succeed as head coach.
Mike Budenholzer, James Borrego, and yes, Brett Brown, are all former Popovich assistants. Doc Rivers and Steve Kerr played under Popovich. Other San Antonio assistants even appear on this very list. Udoka stands on his own merits, and he’s the only person on this roster who has actually coached Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. But anyone from the Spurs organization is generally considered prime material.