A few tense seconds in a game have blown into an entire saga. On one side is a coach. On another side is an entire franchise he has a history with. Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka ended up getting ejected from last Saturday night’s game after a verbal exchange with LeBron James. Both downplayed it afterward, but fans aren’t letting it go. Some have unfurled the scroll and played historian into the player-turned-coach’s tense relations with the Los Angeles Lakers.

One discovery is connected to Kobe Bryant. Given that it’s happened before, Lakers fans wonder if Ime Udoka is repeating history.

Ime Udoka’s Kobe Bryant-debacle

It’s rare for a coach to get ejected from the game after an altercation with the opposing team’s player. That’s what happened the day the Lakers beat the Rockets 107-97. Udoka got a technical as well as LeBron James. But since it was the coach’s second, he was shown the door.

When Udoka was still playing in the NBA, his clashes with James weren’t this contentious. There is, however, history with James’ team way before he joined them. This incident has made an incident resurface from the Internet archives.

The incident occurred when Udoka was playing with the Sacramento Kings in the 2009-2010 season. The Lakers squad was being led by Kobe Bryant against the Kings at the New Year game. Udoka missed free throws in that game and failed to expand a two-point lead.

The Black Mamba took advantage of his ‘mistake’. While 6’6″ Udoka was guarding big man Pau Gasol without much advantage, Bryant swooped to the other end and made the game-winning shot.

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As many want to speculate what prompted a coach to have a verbal spat, it is theorized that standing in the same spot watching another Lakers superstar torment his team triggered Udoka. He may have vented some unspoken emotions towards Kobe at LeBron that day. But this isn’t the only issue he had with the Lakers legend.

Ime Udoka’s split-second Lakers moment

There’s another theory floating around about why Udoka might hold a grudge against the Lakers. For a minute in 2003-04, the Lakers fresh off a championship signed him. That opportunity only came when Bryant injured his shoulder playing against the Cleveland Cavaliers and their rookie, LeBron James.

Shaquille O’Neal was sidelined by an injury, too. So the Lakers signed Udoka to a 10-day contract. He saw all of 7 minutes of playtime across four games in purple and gold. It’s still a stretch to theorize this journeyman is mad about getting waived off by one team.

Udoka would play in Europe and more NBA teams until 2012. He transitioned to coaching and won his first championship in 2014 as the assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Whatever Ime Udoka’s relationship with the Lakers, it’s manifesting in odd ways.

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