Former No. 6 overall pick to retire, join Hawks coaching staff

Former NBA big man Ekpe Udoh is transitioning into the next phase of his career, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that Udoh is joining the Hawks as a member of Quin Snyder‘s coaching staff.

Udoh hasn’t been on an NBA roster since 2019, but he continued to play internationally in recent years, suiting up for teams in China, Italy and Japan. As Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets, the 36-year-old played for the Japanese club Kyoto Hannaryz earlier this year, but has opted to retire as a player and will pivot to coaching.

The sixth overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, Udoh began his career in Golden State and made stops in Milwaukee, Los Angeles (with the Clippers) and Utah from 2010-19. The 6’10” center also played in Israel and Turkey during that period, winning a EuroLeague title in 2017 with Fenerbahce. He made the All-EuroLeague First Team that year after leading the league in rebounds and blocked shots.

In 384 career NBA regular season games, Udoh averaged a modest 3.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 14.8 minutes per night. He also made 16 appearances in the postseason, but never played a major role, averaging just 5.8 MPG in those contests. Of his 400 total NBA games, 122 came for the Jazz under Snyder, who was the team’s head coach at the time.

The Hawks are also adding Bryan George to their coaching staff as a video coordinator with a focus on player development, tweets Jeff Schultz of The Athletic. George had been an assistant coach for ASVEL in France.