Rockets ‘plan to interview scandalized former Celtics coach Ime Udoka for their vacancy on Wednesday’… seven months after he was banned in Boston for having improper affair with staffer
- The Rockets will interview scandalized former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka
- Udoka guided Boston to the NBA Finals in his only season as a head coachÂ
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
The Houston Rockets will interview scandalized former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka for their vacancy after declining to re-sign the outgoing Stephen Silas.
Udoka is among several candidates to take over the 22-60 Rockets, who are already rebuilding around shooting guard Jalen Green, center Alperen Sengun and power forward Jabari Smith Jr. The team also has a 14-percent chance of winning the NBA Draft lottery and landing prized 7-foot-4 French phenom, Victor Wembanyama.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Udoka, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, ex-Lakers coach Frank Vogel, ex-Hornets coach James Borrego, and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin are all candidates to replace Silas in Houston.
Udoka, who is also reportedly a candidate for the Pistons job, led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first season as head coach. Then, news broke in September on the eve of the NBA season about an affair with a Celtics colleague.
Related Post
ESPN reported that an independent investigation revealed Udoka ‘used crude language in his dialogue with a female subordinate prior to the start of an improper workplace relationship.
Ime Udoka was suspended by the Celtics for an affair with a colleague before being replaced
She served as a team liaison arranging travel, lodging and game tickets for Celtics family members at home and on the road. It is likely that she even arranged travel for Long.
Udoka issued his own statement following his suspension in September: ‘I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down.’
Joe Mazzulla was named Boston’s interim coach following Udoka’s suspension for violating organizational policies.
In February, Mazzulla was given the role full-time after guiding the Cs to a 42-17 record. Boston finished the season with the East’s No. 2 seed at 57-25, and Mazzulla was named a candidate for the NBA Coach of the Year award.
The revelation of the affair led to Udoka’s breakup with actress Nia Long, with whom he shared one son.
The newly single 52-year-old Long said she her primary focus is the couple’s son, 11-year-old Kez, who has moved back to Los Angeles with his mother after they relocated to Boston when Udoka was named the Celtics’ head coach in 2021.
Ime Udoka’s affair saw him end his relationship with actress Nia Long, who he has a son with
Udoka was named head coach of the Celtics at the start of the 2021-22 season after former head coach Brad Stevens was promoted to President of Basketball Operations.
In his first season as a head coach, Udoka amassed a 51-31 record and guided the Celtics to a regular-season Atlantic Division title. Udoka then helped lead Boston all the way to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. There, they fell to the Golden State Warriors in six games.
Before coaching with the Celtics, Udoka spent time as an assistant coach for eight seasons at the San Antonio Spurs under head coach Gregg Popovich, helping to win an NBA title in 2014.
Udoka left San Antonio in 2019, moving to the Philadelphia 76ers. The following season, he became an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets.
He was then hired as the head coach of the Celtics, becoming the fifth black head coach in the team’s history.
A Portland native, Udoka played at Portland State before a journeyman’s career that took him from low-level, independent leagues to Europe and eventually the NBA, where he carved out bench roles with the Spurs. He also had brief stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, and Sacramento Kings.
Udoka was rumored to be a candidate for the vacant Nets job after Steve Nash was dismissed earlier this season, but Brooklyn ultimately promoted assistant Jacque Vaughn to head coach.
The Rockets have a 14-percent chance of winning the lottery and landing Victor Wembanyama
