The Boston Celtics are apparently looking for a new head coach before the second round of interviews. In the meantime, three names have been leaked that appear to be high on the list of the Celts.
According to information from Adrian Wojnarowski (ESPN) Boston is focusing on assistant coaches from the NBA in the search for a successor to Brad Stevens, who has taken over the position of President of Basketball Operations in the front office. Accordingly, Ime Udoka (Brooklyn Nets), Darvin Ham (Milwaukee Bucks) and Chauncey Billups (LA Clippers) are said to have been invited to a second round of interviews.
Stevens’ list of candidates, who is in charge of the search for his successor himself, has already been narrowed down in the process so far, but according to Woj it could include more names than the three mentioned.
Udoka is said to have the support of some Celtics players who played under him for Team USA at the 2019 World Cup. Udoka was then the assistant to head coach Gregg Popovich. Udoka also worked for the Spurs for seven years under Coach Pop before joining the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019 and finally joining Steve Nash in Brooklyn in 2020.
Just like Udoka, Ham is one of the top candidates for a post as head coach among the current assistant coaches. The Bucks assistant has been in conversation with other teams several times in recent years. After only one year as an assistant at the Clippers, Billups is also attracting the interest of Trail Blazers, Wizards, Magic and Pelicans, as Woj reports.
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