Ime Udoka Reveals Teams That Passed On Him Prior To NBA Finals

Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka is receiving all the credit right now, and it’s well deserved.

After the Celtics’ core of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown failed to get over the hump for the past few years, it’s been a completely different story with Udoka. And this weekend, Boston’s Game 7 win over the Heat booked their ticket to an NBA Finals appearance against the Warriors.

With many fans are wondering why their team didn’t hire Ime Udoka as head coach, the first-year man in Boston revealed which squads passed up on him in the past.

“You really want me to tell you? Detroit, Indiana, Cleveland,” Udoka said when pressed on who passed on him. “I can go down the list. That was tough because I believe I was ready. But I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of an organization that’s pushing for winning and championships. You can be in a lot of different situations. There are only 30 teams and I get that, but to not be in a rebuild and being in an expectation pressure-filled situation, I wouldn’t trade that in any day.”

The Pistons head coaching job has been filled by Dwayne Casey since 2018. But others such as Indiana and Cleveland have been filled over the past two seasons.

For Ime Udoka, he knows he has been ready for this opportunity for a long time now. And finally, he’s proving just that on the grandest of stages.

“The one thing I would say is the disappointment of coming in second a few years really hurt,” Udoka told Haynes of the process he went through to become a head coach. “But if you told me I’d have to wait for Boston and get [bypassed] by some of the ones that I got beat out on, it’s a no-brainer for me. I’m happy to be in Boston.

Now, Ime Udoka is exactly where he’s supposed to be — four wins away from bringing an NBA Championship back home to Boston in his first season.

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