Rockets hiring Ime Udoka as head coach after Celtics scandal

Publish date: 2024-05-06

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Ime Udoka is back in the NBA with a new head coaching job.

The Rockets are hiring Udoka as their new head coach, according to multiple reports.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was first to break the news.

Udoka was suspended for the full season last September and ultimately fired by the Celtics after it was revealed that he had an improper intimate relationship with a team staffer.

It was later reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania that Udoka also made “unwanted comments” to the team employee after their affair.

“I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down,” Udoka said at the time in a statement. “I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.” 

Udoka, 45, had been in a long-term relationship with actress Nia Long, who starred in “Friday” in addition to a number of other movies and TV shows, and the two broke up in December.

“This felt right, but there’s no clear guidelines for any of this,” Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said in a press conference in justification of handing Udoka a “well-warranted” suspension for the entire 2022-23 season. “I took a lot of advice from partners like [president of basketball operations] Brad [Stevens] and others. We collectively came to this and got there, but it was not clear what to do.”

The news that Udoka was suspended for the whole season was shocking at the outset, as the Celtics were coming off an unexpected NBA Finals berth.

Udoka was replaced by former assistant Joe Mazzula as Celtics head coach.

The Nets had planned to hire Udoka as head coach to replace Steve Nash, who was fired early in the season, but ultimately went with Jacque Vaughn after scrutiny over the potential hire grew.

The Rockets went 20-62 this season, finishing 14th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference.

The team fired Stephen Silas in April after three seasons as head coach.

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