The Houston Rockets agreed to hire Ime Udoka as head coach this week a few months after he was suspended by the Boston Celtics for an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
Houston reportedly felt comfortable with the opinion of the NBA league office that Udoka’s behavior didn’t rise to the level of “disqualifying” him for employment.
“The league office reviewed the independent report that the Celtics had commissioned in the aftermath of Udoka’s improper relationship with a woman in that organization within the basketball realm in Boston… that there was nothing the league office was telling them precluded Houston or any other team from hiring Ime Udoka,” said Adrian Wojnarowski on Outside the Lines. “There was nothing they found to be disqualifying to work again in the NBA. Certainly, there was an initial year-long suspension that turned into a dismissal as Joe Mazzulla was having success with that team.
“But I think for Houston, certainly they met Udoka in person, they spent time with him. They talked to a lot of people who have worked with him, who have known him, who vouch for him through the years at different organizations and came to the decision they would be willing to offer their head coaching job and make a significant commitment to him contractually.”