It’s a 12-hour ride from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, to Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island. It’s a road not many have traveled, but Shawn Swords, the associate head coach of the Long Island Nets, is one of them.
Swords is in his second year with the Nets G League affiliate, having risen from an assistant last season under Mfon Udofia to the No. 2 job under Udofia in Long Island this season and with Udofia missing several games recently due to personal reasons, to acting head coach. He’s a key part of the development regimen that has already helped Jalen Wilson and Noah Clowney join the rotation in Brooklyn and is working on Dariq Whitehead.