Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Avoid Postgame Ime Udoka Embrace in Ex-Coach’s Boston Return

The Boston Celtics continued their dominant form with a win over the Houston Rockets. Jayson Tatum and Co. had some extra motivation heading into tonight’s game as they faced their former head coach Ime Udoka’s team. Udoka got fired by the Boston Celtics last February after violating team policy for allegedly having an intimate relationship with a staff member. He joined the Houston Rockets as their new head coach a few months later.

After the Celtics decimated Ime Udoka’s Rockets tonight, superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown avoided post-game embrace with their former head coach.

Ime Udoka’s return to Boston ends in embarrassment

Jayson Tatym and Co. decimated the Houston Rockets 145-113 in tonight’s game. Payton Pritchard was the only player in the Celtics squad who went over to hug former head coach Ime Udoka after the game. No other player, including the Celtics superstar duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, was interested in welcoming Udoka back to Boston. The Rockets’ head coach walked off the court after hugging Pritchard. Even though Pritchard was the only player who hugged Udoka, he threw an indirect jab at the former Celtics head coach during the game.

While the Celtics were up 31 points in the closing minutes of the 4th quarter, Pritchard threw an off-the-glass alley-oop to his teammate Oshae Brissett. That play was disrespectful and could have been a silent jab at Udoka. When Udoka was still the Celtics head coach, he once got mad that the players kept feeding Payton Pritchard during a blowout win.

Payton went off during that game against the Blazers, but Udoka was not pleased with the hyped reactions. Pritchard might have got his revenge tonight with a highlight play in a blowout win against Udoka’s team.

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Ime Udoka is doing a great job despite tonight’s loss

Even though Ime Udoka had an embarrassing night against his former team tonight, he has been doing a great job as the Rockets head coach. Udoka took the head coaching job with the Rockets last summer after he signed a 4-year $28.5 million contract. In his debut season with the Rockets, he has led them to a 19-19 record. That is a great improvement from their last season’s record. The Rockets are already just 3 wins away from last season’s win tally of 22-60. They are currently 9th in the Western Conference standings and one of the most talented young teams in the league.

Ime Udoka has helped young players like Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green elevate their game to new heights. He has proven that he is a great head coach. Udoka did the same thing with the Celtics when he led them to the 2022 NBA Finals in his rookie season. It will be interesting to see how far the former Celtics head coach can lead the young Houston Rockets squad this season.

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