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Former player Udoka joins coaching staff

By Jeff McDonald

Ime Udoka, who played parts of three seasons in two stints with the Spurs from 2007-11, will return to the team as an assistant coach. The Spurs announced the hiring Tuesday.

In a press release, coach Gregg Popovich praised Udoka’s “outstanding work ethic” and “natural inclination to teach.”

Udoka, 35, said the Spurs’ history of producing head coaches from their staff drew him to the job.

“You see their family tree all over the league,” Udoka said by phone from Los Angeles, where he was preparing to board a flight to San Antonio. “It’s a great opportunity. You know they’ll help you develop.”

A hard-nosed, defense-first small forward, Udoka logged 181 games for the Spurs, including 21 in the postseason. He most recently appeared in 20 games during the 2010-11 campaign that was his last as a player.

Though Popovich lost two assistants this summer — with Jacque Vaughn landing the head-coaching position in Orlando and Don Newman leaving for the lead assistant’s gig in Washington — Udoka is expected to be the Spurs’ lone coaching-staff addition this offseason.

The spot Vaughn occupied on Popovich’s bench was created especially for him when he joined the club before the 2009-10 campaign and is likely to remain unfilled.

Layden a front-office candidate: The Spurs also have two vacancies to fill in their front office, with R.C. Buford aides Danny Ferry and Dennis Lindsey having departed for general manager jobs in Atlanta and Utah, respectively.

Jazz assistant Scott Layden, a former GM in Utah and New York, has been given permission to interview with the Spurs for one of the openings.

The Salt Lake City-based Deseret News reported Layden’s meeting with Buford and Popovich was scheduled for Monday night in San Antonio, though it was not immediately clear if it took place as planned.

Anderson to Atlanta: The Hawks extended a training-camp invitation to former Spurs swingman James Anderson. The 23-year-old, drafted 20th overall by the Spurs in 2010, appeared in 87 games in two seasons, averaging 11.5 minutes.

A former Big 12 Player of the Year at Oklahoma State, Anderson became an unrestricted free agent in July as the Spurs declined to pick up his third-year contract option.

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

Vanessa Bryant lays down the law

Vanessa Bryant can forgive the road trips, the lengthy hours at the gym, the ocean of female admirers, even the occasional sexual assault charge. One thing Kobe Bryant’s wife cannot tolerate, however, is failure.

She laid down the law in a recent interview with New York magazine, as recounted by :

“I certainly would not want to be married to somebody that can’t win championships. If you’re sacrificing time away from my family and myself for the benefit of winning championships, then winning a championship should happen every single year.”

For those keeping track — and we pity those who are, including us (but only because we have to, for journalistic purposes) — Kobe, who had patched things up with his wife after she filed for divorce last December, is apparently back in the dog house after a slew of pictures of him hanging out with various women surfaced from the Olympics.

And now the Lakers have even more pressure to win the title.

Motivational speaker advises NBA rookies to turn in their “playa cards”

There probably isn’t a man alive who hasn’t fantasized about the extracurricular opportunities available to professional athletes. But according to reformed player/motivational speaker , having an abundance of sexual partners isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

That was his message in a recent presentation to about 60 players at the recent NBA Rookie Transition program. And shockingly, as , many were receptive of his message of monogamy.

Tweeted Phoenix Suns rookie Kendall Marshall: “I’m turnin my playa card in.”

Gaskins, now a life coach and published author, speaks from hard-earned experience, according to Abbott.

Gaskins knows from his own life, and from his clients, all about the unhealthy dynamic between male athletes and the women who hang around stadiums and hotel lobbies. And he had stories, thick with sexually transmitted diseases, women who cheat more than men, and clever schemes to get their hands on players’ money and more.

“The mindset with a lot of guys,” Gaskins says, “is I’m the man, I make all the money, she knows I’m going to cheat and that’s that.”

What that scheme ignores, Gaskins says, is that things inevitably get complicated: “If she’s letting you cheat, nine times out of ten she’s cheating too. You’re out of town and she’s spending your money on another man, who is scheming to take her from you.”

Gaskins knows this story, because it happened to him in college.

Gaskins, 28, eventually got kicked off his college football teams and sold drugs for a spell before reinventing himself as a relationship expert. His main advice to pro athletes: Skip the booty calls, focus on maintaining a strong relationship with the one you loved before hitting the lottery, and avoid the humiliation of having an ex show up on Basketball Wives.

In other words, ask yourself, “What would Tim Duncan do?”