The name Udoka basically tells Pat Riley to push him with the mic drop in the suit
Last weekend, Los Angeles The Lakers honored the legendary Pat Riley with a statue outside the Cripto.com Arena. But during the festivities, one of the biggest sound bites to come from the event was Riley suggests NBA coaches should go back to wearing suits and a match tie. Well, do the math Houston Rockets head coach Making Udoka like someone who is not a fan ideas.
Before the Rockets’ game against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Ime Udoka said NBA coaches vote on whether they should wear suits and the overwhelming majority say no. During Udoka’s days as an assistant coach in the NBA, he wore suits.
“No thanks,” Udoka said. “I enjoyed it at the time, but the year of COVID obviously changed that. For packing convenience, less thinking, I mean all of the above. They vote on the coaches every year and I think 87 percent say no. About five say yes and the rest don’t care.”
Udoka began coaching as an assistant under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs in 2012. He was part of the Spurs staff until 2019 when he joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2019-20 season. He spent one more season in 2020-21 as an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets before landing his first head coaching job with the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first year as a head coach, only to fall to the Golden State Warriors in six games. He was released from the Celtics in 2023 after a season-long suspension for violating team rules. He became the head coach of the Rockets ahead of the 2023-24 season.
2026-02-26 17:55:00
