Rockets Coach Ime Udoka on ‘Hot Seat’ Before Lakers Series

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HOUSTON, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 29: Head coach Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets speaks with the media throughout NBA Media Day at Toyota Center on September 29, 2025 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or utilizing this {photograph}, User is consenting to the phrases and circumstances of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)

Just like each different NBA group he’s ever been on, Kevin Durant‘s time with the Houston Rockets has been defined by his once-in-a-lifetime talent, winning games … and mad drama.

For Durant, there’s additionally often collateral injury within the type of coaches dropping their jobs, teammates getting traded, and total, simply bridges being burned.

The collateral injury in Houston might be Third-year head coach Ime Udoka, who 1 NBA insider thinks might be on the recent seat relying on the result of the Rockets’ 1st-round playoff sequence in opposition to the Los Angeles Lakers.

“For the Hot Seat Coach Category, I’ve got Ime Udoka,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons mentioned. “I have not been impressed by the coaching of this team this year. The chemistry doesn’t seem great. I think the offense has just been bizarre … I just don’t understand it. And I would be very unsurprised if he was not their coach next year. Remember last year, I took (former New York Knicks head coach ) Tom Thibodeau in this category … and I was proven correct.”

The Lakers and Rockets play Game 1 on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.

How the Houston Rockets Became Such a Mess

It’s not onerous to see the place the season went off the rails for Udoka and the Rockets — All-Star Weekend.

That’s when a number of tales linked Durant to a burner account on X that was essential of teammates Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun and created a number of message teams that defended Durant.

In 2017, Durant admitted to utilizing burner accounts whereas he was on the Oklahoma City Thunder to defend himself on-line. Durant didn’t deny the latest accusations; he simply known as it “Twitter nonsense” and refused to reply questions on it.

“Durant is one of the more active players on social media — he has almost 20 million followers on X (formerly Twitter, as Durant still calls it) and 14 million on Instagram — and is not afraid to play the troll and mix it up with fans on those platforms,” NBC Sports reporter reporter Kurt Helin wrote on February 19. “He has a history with burner accounts dating back to an incident in 2017, where several tweets from a personal or ‘burner’ Twitter account about his exit from Oklahoma City were exposed, and he publicly apologized for that. In 2021, Durant was fined $50,000 by the NBA for “homophobic and misogynistic language” in an Instagram DM alternate with actor Michael Rapaport (who made the alternate public). He has admitted on a podcast that he had used burner accounts so he might categorical himself extra freely on-line with out the glare of the highlight.”

The Rockets have been 33-20 earlier than the All-Star break and went 19-10 after the All-Star break.

Ime Udoka No Stranger to Controversy

Udoka isn’t any stranger to controversy, having endured 1 of the messier off-court scandals in current reminiscence.

After Udoka led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals following his 1st season as head coach in 2021-22, he was suspended for your entire 2022-23 season for having what was known as an “inappropriate relationship” with a feminine employees member.

Udoka was completely changed by his former assistant, Joe Mazzula, and have become the top coach of the Rockets in 2023-24 and led them to the postseason in his 2nd season, the place they misplaced within the 1st spherical of the Western Conference Playoffs.

The Rockets haven’t superior previous the first spherical since 2019-20, once they misplaced within the Western Conference semifinals.

Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a spotlight on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports activities author and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame