San Antonio Spurs Hire Ime Udoka as Assistant Coach

The San Antonio Spurs have hired former player Ime Udoka as an assistant coach. Udoka, who played two full seasons with the Spurs from 2007-09 and also played 20 games with the team in the 2010-11, will now try to work his way up the coaching ladder. Via SpursNation.com: “A 6-foot-6 forward, Udoka logged 160 regular season games in silver and black, plus 21 playoff games. He averaged 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 2007-08; 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 2008-09. A hard-nosed defender, he often was asked to defend bigger, stronger power forwards and was a valued teammate. Veterans Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker remain from the 2007-08 and 2008-09 Spurs with whom Udoka completed full seasons. ‘Ime Udoka possesses an outstanding work ethic as well as a natural inclination to teach. We are excited to add someone with his potential to our coaching staff,’ Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said in a press release announcing Udoka’s hiring. The Spurs lost assistant coaches Jacque Vaughn and Don Newman in recent weeks.”