Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was interview fro …..
Udoka guided Boston to the Finals in his first year as coach.
On Monday, The Athletic‘s Kelly Iko reported that the Rockets will interview ex-Celtics coach Ime Udoka on Wednesday for the team’s head coaching position.
Houston declined to pick up the fourth year of head coach Stephen Silas’ contract, leading to them scheduling interviews with Udoka and several other candidates, the publication reported.
In their three years under Silas, the Rockets finished in last place in the NBA twice and had the third worst record this past season. Any coach hired will inherit a roster that didn’t feature a starter over the age of 22 in the last two months of the season and contains the No. 2 pick from the 2021 draft and the No. 3 pick from the ’22 draft.
If the Houston front office decides to go with Udoka, they will get a longtime Spurs assistant and player as well as a coach who brought the Celtics to the NBA Finals during his first year in charge. In total, Udoka has been to the Conference Finals five times and the NBA Finals three times.
But Udoka has been away from the NBA this past season after being suspended by the Celtics for violating team policies. Joe Mazzulla was hired to replace him, confirming the end of Udoka’s relationship with Boston.
Despite the suspension from Boston, multiple teams around the NBA have considered Udoka for their open head coaching jobs.
In November it was reported that Brooklyn was considering Udoka before eventually promoting Jacques Vaughn and more recently, Atlanta thought about picking him before choosing Quinn Snyder instead.
As was the case with the other teams that considered him, Udoka won’t be the only candidate for the Houston job.
Other former head coaches being considered by the Rockets are Kenny Atkinson, Frank Vogel, and James Borrego. The team is also reportedly looking at longtime assistants Sam Cassell, Adrian Griffin, and Kevin Young.