Ime Udoka spoke publicly spoke with the media for the first time since being suspended from Boston Celtics due to an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer.
Earlier this week it was announced that he will be taking on the head coach position for the Houston Rockets and during a press conference on Thursday he spoke about how taking a year off helped him beat adversity. “I spent this last offseason working on myself in a lot of different ways, improving in areas, and it gave me a chance to sit back, reflect and grow,” he said. “And I think that’ll make me a better coach and overall a better leader.”
He continued, “Just having that time off and really a full understanding of how many people you impact by a poor decision where you start with the ownership and accountability.” He also revealed that went through “leadership and sensitivity training” as well as counseling with his son “to help him improve the situation that I put him in,” said Udoka. “You can grow from adversity and I think I’ve done that this year if you spend it in the right direction or take the right steps.”
Udoka said he knew he had to “take responsibility for” his actions, and he tells his players to do the same. “I preach that to the players and so I have to take responsibility for my part in it,” he said on Wednesday. Udoka insisted that “the matter has been resolved” and added that he “can’t really speak much about it” further.
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The news that broke on Monday afternoon (April 24), comes seven months after Udoka was initially suspended in September 2022 by the Celtics organization. Udoka was banned from the entire 2022-2023 NBA season after officials learned that he had a consensual, but improper relationship with a staff member on the team.
Aside from his suspension, he also lost his fiancée and son’s mother, actress Nia Long. Nearly two months after Udoka was suspended from the team, Long posted a photo of a new apartment. She shared a photo to her Instagram feed. It was a black and white image of an empty kitchen and dining area. She captioned the post, “Thankful for the gift of new places and spaces [red heart emoji].”