Ime Udoka was a head coaching candidate several times before he was eventually hired by the Boston Celtics during the 2021 offseason.
“The one thing I would say is the disappointment of coming in second a few years really hurt,” Udoka told Yahoo Sports after the Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday. “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.”
Udoka was the runner-up during multiple hires.
“You really want me to tell you? Detroit, Indiana, Cleveland,” Udoka told Yahoo Sports. “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.”
Udoka spent seven seasons as an assistant in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich before taking the same role with Philadelphia under Brett Brown before also working as an assistant coach with the Nets under Steve Nash.
“I was always confident once my name started getting out there,” Udoka told Yahoo Sports. “We had some success. Obviously, being in San Antonio helped that. The interview process started and there was a lot of interest, so it was just a matter of time. I was a finalist in a few destinations. So, I always had total faith in that it was a matter of the right fit.”