Ime Sunday Udoka is a Nigerian-American professional basketball coach and former player, who is the head coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in the United States, he represented the Nigeria national team during his playing career. After retiring as a player, Udoka served as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, and Brooklyn Nets before becoming the head coach of the Boston Celtics, whom he led to the 2022 NBA Finals. After being suspended for the entire 2022–23 season, Udoka was hired by the Rockets in April 2023.
Udoka with the Boston Celtics in 2022
Udoka in 2010
The 2022 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2021–22 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors defeated the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics in six games, winning their fourth championship in eight years. Golden State's Stephen Curry was named the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the first time in his career.
In his first year as head coach, Ime Udoka took the Celtics to their first NBA Finals in 12 years.
Klay Thompson returned after missing the previous two seasons due to injury.
Al Horford led the Celtics with 26 points in his Finals debut, going 4-for-4 in the fourth quarter.
Stephen Curry scored a game-high 29 points for the Warriors in Game 2.
