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Ime Udoka made history on Sunday night after becoming one of the few coaches who were able to lead their respective teams to an NBA Finals berth in their first season. The 44-year-old did just that after guiding the Boston Celtics to an epic Game 7 victory against the Miami Heat on Sunday.
After the game, Udoka got brutally honest about the path he took to become the Celtics' head coach. Udoka admitted that he was “hurt” by the fact that a number of other teams decided to pass on him before he finally landed the Boston gig:
“The one thing I would say is the disappointment of coming in second a few years really hurt,” Udoka told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “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.”
After being pushed to name names, the Celtics coach then revealed that it was the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, and Cleveland Cavaliers that snubbed him:
“You really want me to tell you? Detroit, Indiana, Cleveland,” Udoka said. “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.”
Right now, Celtics fans are thanking these three teams for deciding to pass on Udoka. As he said, he could not be happier to be part of such an esteemed organization. There is no doubt that Boston feels the exact same way about Udoka as well.
