By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After parting ways with Stephen Silas at the end of the regular season, the Rockets have reportedly reached an agreement to hire former Celtics coach Ime Udoka, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Udoka, 45, was suspended for the entirety of the 2022-23 season after it was discovered he was having an inappropriate relationship with a female Celtics staffer. He was replaced in Boston by Joe Mazzulla, who took over the job on an interim basis before the start of the season and was named the team’s permanent head coach in February.
In his first season as head coach, Udoka guided the Celtics to a 51-31 record and a trip to the 2022 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Warriors in six games. Previously, he was an assistant with the Nets, 76ers and Spurs following a playing career that spanned over a decade.
The Rockets went 22-60 this season, tied with San Antonio for the worst record in the Western Conference. They have probed the circumstances around Udoka’s departure from Boston with the team and with the league office, per Woj, so the return of the former Celtics coach in the NBA is approved and all but official.