Ime Udoka reflects on Celtics exit: ‘Job not finished’

BOSTON — Ime Udoka stated earlier than teaching his first sport in Boston since being suspended for the 2022-23 season for a number of violations of crew guidelines, and in the end being eliminated because the Celtics‘ coach, that he by no means accomplished the job he was employed to do.

“Job not finished,” Udoka stated when requested how he appears again on that season earlier than main the Houston Rockets in opposition to Boston at TD Garden on Saturday night time. “The relationships you build, and the people you impact. So that’d be the biggest thing [I think about].

“[I] shaped a whole lot of relationships inside a 12 months, and clearly need to get an opportunity to run it again with a gaggle you’re feeling you possibly can construct and develop with. So, letting the individuals down. I talked in regards to the gamers, the relationships I constructed with them, the coaches that got here with me, after which all people else that was impacted by it.

“So for me that’s the biggest thing I would say overall is letting some people down, for sure. But we’ve talked it out and I’ve seen a lot of these people throughout the summer and talk regularly and so we move past it.”

When Udoka was launched earlier than Saturday’s sport, he acquired a lightweight mixture of boos and cheers from the TD Garden crowd.

Udoka led a exceptional turnaround throughout his lone season with the franchise, one which noticed Boston start the 2021-22 season with a 23-24 document by late January earlier than ripping off a 28-7 stretch to finish the common season. The Celtics superior to the NBA Finals for the primary time since 2010 with sequence victories over the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat.

The final sport Udoka coached for the franchise was on this constructing, when Boston misplaced Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry & Co. celebrated their fourth championship. But somewhat than the start of a future collectively, Udoka was suspended for the 2022-23 season. He was formally changed by Joe Mazzulla — who had been elevated to interim coach after working on Udoka’s employees the prior season — on a everlasting foundation in February 2023.

Both coaches, nevertheless, tried to downplay the importance of the event.

“Obviously, the fact that Ime is back, that’s great,” Mazzulla stated. “We worked together, and guys on the staff, but I don’t think that really has anything to do with winning or losing.”

“I spent a good year and had some success,” Udoka stated. “But I just saw a few people that you’re reminded of, everyone on the ramp when you walk in. So, it was a little bit different, as far as that.

“We had 12 months [here], not nice 12 months, [because we] did not get it accomplished. But yeah, I’d say simply seeing some individuals I have never seen shortly … then, as soon as it is accomplished, it is accomplished. A primary time for all the things. We’ve been by it and are prepared to maneuver on.”

Udoka and his former players have been open that they’ve maintained their relationships since his firing. At the time, players expressed confusion about what had happened with Udoka and that they had been left in the dark. Asked about that Saturday, Udoka said that wasn’t the case.

“I’d say they lied to you guys,” Udoka said with a slight smile. “They knew. Some of them knew and, you already know, clearly I may discuss to them they usually would not share stuff publicly.

“So, who needed to know, knew.”

Over the summer time, Udoka attended former Celtic Marcus Smart‘s marriage ceremony — one which was additionally attended by a number of gamers, Mazzulla, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and possession. Udoka stated he continues to verify in on the Celtics, however he does the identical factor with gamers from the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Nets — his different teaching stops as an assistant.

“It’s the relationships that have been built, and they’re going to be long lasting,” Udoka stated. “So we all check on each other. It’s no different than LaMarcus Aldridge or Joel Embiid or guys that I’ve coached that I’ve gotten really close with.

“From that standpoint, in the event that they do one thing loopy or I do one thing loopy, they attain out. In normal, I feel being in L.A. within the summers, all of us run into one another fairly a bit and discuss recurrently. I would not say it is any totally different than anyone else, apart from the truth that we had a whole lot of success in a brief interval and actually shaped nice relationships.”

After sitting out last season, Udoka was hired to coach the Rockets in April. A team that had lost more games than any other NBA franchise across the prior three seasons combined, he said there are things in this Rockets team that reminds him of the Celtics. The Rockets entered Saturday’s game 19-18 — after winning 17, 20 and 22 games, respectively, over the past three seasons.

“Yeah, I imply, there are a whole lot of parallels,” Udoka said. “Age hole is the largest factor. But habits are habits. Winning mentalities. It’s the identical factor you need to change, these mentalities. I obtained to lean on what occurred right here in Boston for our Houston guys. Just like I stated, two, three, years youthful with rather less success. [They had] been to the Eastern Conference Finals right here fairly a bit. But very comparable. Plenty of parallels so far as that.”