Ime Udoka revived the Houston Rockets two seasons in the past, however not by play-calls or apply schedules. Instead, Houston’s head coach introduced the group one thing it desperately lacked after three seasons within the Western Conference cellar: swagger.
Udoka, a 6-foot-6 former NBA bench participant, was employed by the Rockets before the 2023-24 season, a marketing campaign that adopted three Houston seasons with a minimum of 55 losses. He started his Houston tenure challenging his own team’s toughness. He quickly turned his fury towards the remainder of the NBA. Udoka appeared to name star LeBron James a “soft-ass boy,” throughout a December 2023 spat in Los Angeles. He jawed with Steph Curry before halftime throughout a playoff recreation in Golden State final April, setting the tone for Houston in its first playoff collection of the post-James-Harden period.
Udoka’s first two seasons had been an prolonged honeymoon, a celebration of a rising staff whose intense, bodily play matched the perspective of its head coach. A rockier actuality emerged this season.
Houston misplaced 5 of seven video games in December. It dropped seven of 12 in March. Houston’s offense—projected by many to be one of many league’s greatest after this summer season’s trade for Kevin Durant—ranked No. 19 of 30 groups from Jan. 1 to March 31. Udoka is notoriously intense on the bench and sideline. His tirades grew to become extra frequent this season, with loud, profane criticism of Houston heart Alperen Şengün usually caught by tv cameras and followers on social media.
Sengün, to his credit score, says he would not thoughts the exhausting teaching. Udoka is not creating any kind of inner disaster. But as Houston’s offense struggled in contrast to expectations this season, a preferred narrative emerged: Udoka is an excellent tone setter. However critics, even former Boston Celtics pupil Jaylen Brown do not know that he is the sort of coach that may generate straightforward factors for his staff in pressure-packed conditions.
Durant disagrees with that framing, providing an endorsement of his head coach this week.
“His attention to detail [is great]. He studies the game, watches the game, understands it on a different level,” Durant stated of Udoka on Wednesday. “He knows how to speak to the team, the right X’s and O’s, out-of-timeout plays, draw up a good system. … He’s done all of those things.”
Udoka himself provided a extra particular protection of his work, including a preview of what Houston followers can anticipate within the remaining minutes of upcoming postseason video games. Udoka is historically a hands-off offensive coach, permitting his gamers to play with rhythm and tempo. That ethos harm Houston in 2025-26, when constant double-teams of Durant led to a stream of irritating, ill-time turnovers. Udoka says these struggles are actually up to now, with particular play-calls and complicated wrinkles on the horizon this spring.
“With some of our late-game letdowns, I’ve now got to more play calls and got more specific as opposed to what we do in the first few quarters,” Udoka stated. “You want to be specific there. … Late-game execution has been an issue for us, so, yes, I will be calling more plays.”
Udoka was as soon as the Rockets’ savior. He’s spent a lot of 2025-26 as a scapegoat, a perceived main explanation for Houston’s sudden offensive struggles. The highlight is on Udoka greater than maybe any coach league-wide this postseason. Does he have sufficient methods up his sleeve to spur an prolonged playoff run? Houston’s upcoming collection in opposition to LeBron and the Lakers will present the primary take a look at, with Game 1 set for Saturday night time in Los Angeles.
