What I like about this hire is that Jalen-only fans, Sengun-only fans, Jabari-only fans, etc. can no longer b**** and moan about the coaching if they aren't performing on the court. If they can't get it right under Ime, then they aren't as talented as we think they are.
Almost all of the other initial commenters on here have no doubts - is that the consensus for the next 20 pages? I'm really mixed. Strictly as a basketball decision, this would be a no-brainer. But man... We never learned exactly what he did and that makes me uncomfortable stating what exactly "people like him" is. We know he had an affair with someone way lower on the totem poll. A fireable offense, sure, can't do that. But without more info/details I can't say that's lifetime ban-level awful. But IIRC it sounded as though this woman wanted out of the relationship and he wouldn't let her go and invoked/leveraged his organizational authority to intimidate or threaten her. If it's the case that he coerced a woman into continuing to have a sexual relationship with him then he should be banned for years and no classy org should ever consider hiring him.
The most important job to me. Udoka will make or break KPJ. He will either cause KPJ to become the best version of himself as a two way player or make KPJ loses his cool and show his true colors.
OK, I'll allow it. His floor is lower than the other candidates because of potential personal choices, but the ceiling is higher on the basketball side. Give this man his own staff, keep the GM and failson out of the crappy practice facility, and let's roll.
I know everyone is excited about this but the sexual harassment stuff was geninunely a concern for me.
I believe they are the same person. I am concerned about it - I just think that some of the media are over playing what he did. He didn’t assault anyone.
It concerns me too because it shows poor judgment and we are asking him to lead a bunch of 19-21 year olds. At the end of the day I believe it is worth the risk. What he did is sleazy, but it isn’t illegal and he hasn’t been in trouble in the past.
I just knew this was who Tilman wanted…same kind of style almost…Tilman pulled a Cal when Denver came out saying that Demeco was their top target and Toronto being high on Ime…Tilman said Get It Done
So over the next 10 years under Udoka the Rockets will have 6 Championships, 2 Finals losses and 2 WCF losses (due to injuries). What a time to be a Rockets and Astros fan!
He violates team policy, used crude language towards women and slept with an executives wife that works for the team. It shows poor judgment. It shows a lack of regard for team rules and he hurt his son and his fiancée. He lost his job as the head coach of a storied franchise, he lost money, he wasn’t able to work for over a year and he suffered public humiliation. Did he pay a big enough price? That I don’t know- but what I do know is that calling women “broads” and under playing what happened doesn’t help anyone. This is Udoka’s last real chance. He is estranged from his fiancée now, he can date anyone he wants that is of age and isn’t a criminal as long as they are not associated with the Rockets. I hope for his son and ex fiancée, and the Rockets - that he learns from all of this and understands power dynamics and not to exploit them.
I hope the Rockets did their homework on this because if they didn't - hoooooo boyyy it will make the last 3 years seem like 93-94-95
Man,I’m genuinely so excited by this hire. I saw Udoka as beyond a long shot. This has me so excited about the future of our team. Go Rockets!!!
This strikes me as a little bit naive and/or ignoring reality about these kinds of matters, estimates have it that the majority of these crimes go unreported to the police. But let's not get into it in the GARM.
I am a supporter of the Udoka hire… but Boston didn’t overreact. Udoka had been warned before. He was found to use crude language to a female subordinate employee- he also was caught on a ring door bell discussing his cheating with the woman he was cheating with, who was an employee of the Celtics and supposedly the spouse of an owner/executive with the Celtics. Udoka crushed his son and long term fiancée… what he did was crappy, it violated team policies - but didn’t break the law. He missed an entire year, lost pay, lost his fiancée, lost his job and has public humiliation- the fact he paid so much is the only reason I personally can support him getting another chance.
