The Rise of Ime Udoka
On the eve of the 2022 NBA finals, Ime Udoka is preparing his team for a place collectively they have never been. Despite being with the storied Boston Celtics Franchise, with an NBA leading 17 titles in their history, none of the current roster has made an Finals appearance, and this will be Udoka’s first as head coach. In the span of 345 days, the first time head coach was hired and is coaching for a championship.
Like every seemingly meteoric rise to the top, Udoka’s success did not happen overnight. He began his college playing career at Junior College Utah State Eastern and then transferred to San Francisco State and later to Portland State. Udoka went undrafted in the 2000 NBA draft. After bouncing around several NBA Developmental league teams, in 2004 he went overseas and had moderate success. Udoka attempted a return to the NBA in 2005, but with no teams giving him a tryout, he was again picked up by a Developmental League team. With this opportunity he shined, receiving First Team All D-League honors. With his recognition as a strong defensive player growing, he received a call up to the New York Knicks but was later waived. The following season in 2006, he received a contract with the Portland Trailblazers. Udoka spent the next 5 years with several NBA teams, and one last trip playing overseas before retiring in 2012. Later that year, he joined the coaching staff of the San Antonio Spurs, where he would stay for the next 7 seasons. He eventually moved on to other jobs in Philadelphia and Brooklyn before being hired by Boston last year as their Head Coach.
A long and winding journey has brought Udoka to this point. At his introductory press conference, he seemed sure of who he was and ready for the moment. He said of the young tandem of star players Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown "They’re going to allow me to coach and push them. I’m gonna be on their ass, and that’s what they like about me. They’ve asked me about that. They want to be pushed, they want to be directed towards winning, and you expect that from your stars, the character they’ve shown." The past year has shown that Udoka had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish and more importantly he’s been able to execute that vision.
Only some are ever really ready for that moment. For many, a lot of the time before that moment is wasted, and not used as an opportunity to grow and get better. That is not the case for Ime Udoka. His time scraping and grinding in mid-major college programs, to his time fighting for looks from NBA teams, to coaching and being passed over for several jobs has formed a mentality that takes no opportunity for granted. In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, Udoka said “I think for me, it’s easy. My career as a player, a journeyman, a role player that only had two guaranteed contracts out of my whole NBA career, it prepped me for that. It’s always been about putting your head down and grinding it out and figuring out a way to get it done. You don’t place the blame on anybody or any situation. You figure out how to get it done.”
So far he and his team have. Now their next challenge, 4 time NBA Champions Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.