Getty Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka.
In the 2020-21 season, the Boston Celtics went 36-36 and got bounced in the first round of the NBA Playoffs by the Brooklyn Nets. Just one day after being eliminated, former President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge retired and former head coach Brad Stevens moved to the front office. Less than one month later, on June 28, 2021, the Celtics named Ime Udoka as the 18th head coach in franchise history.
Udoka had previous experience coaching franchise stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown before joining the Celtics. He coached them, as well as point guard Marcus Smart, on Team USA in 2019 as a member of Gregg Popovich’s staff. According to Jeff Goodman of Stadium, this was a key factor in the team’s decision to hire Udoka.
But with the team’s early-season struggles this year, some were quick to blame Udoka. He openly criticized the team, and according to Jay King of The Athletic, outside sources believed he may have taken things too far. Through January 16, 2022, the Celtics were 22-22 and sitting at 11th in the Eastern Conference. Things were looking bleak.
Fast forward to the present, and the Celtics are fighting for a top-two seed in the East. They have the top defensive rating in the league (106.1) and have gone 27-8 since January 16. With how well Boston has performed, the narrative surrounding Udoka has shifted from sour to sweet. On an April 5 episode of his podcast “The Draymond Green Show,” Warriors star Draymond Green had some high praise for the Celtics coach.
Green Says Udoka Is Coach of the Year
During the episode, titled “Dray’s 2022 NBA Awards,” Green discussed his choice for each of the NBA Awards. When it came to the Coach of the Year award, he narrowed it down to three candidates – J.B. Bickerstaff of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers and Udoka. But in the end, he stated that Udoka is the favorite.
With the Celtics’ struggles during the 2020-21 season, which bled into the early portion of this year, Udoka was not handed an easy task. Green noted Udoka’s role in the team’s turnaround as the primary reason for picking him as the Coach of the Year:
It wasn’t like the Boston Celtics were handed to him after last year as the Boston Celtics that we all know. They were not very good last year and they were in the Play-In Tournament. People were talking about, ‘trade Marcus Smart’ and ‘trade Jaylen Brown’ and all of this stuff. They started off the season rough and they figured it out. I gotta give a lot of credit to Ime for that.
Ahead of the 2022 NBA trade deadline, rumors began to pile up that Smart and/or Brown could be traded. But instead, the Celtics held onto both of them, and they are better off because of it. Udoka has gotten the most out of every player on the Celtics roster, and Green mentioned that as another reason for his Coach-of-the-Year candidacy.
Udoka’s Role in Helping Tatum, Brown, Smart Improve
At a Summer League game against the Denver Nuggets, Udoka laid out some pretty significant plans for three of Boston’s core players. Regarding the team’s two stars, Tatum and Brown, he stated that he wanted to help them “be playmakers.” Green pointed out Udoka’s ability to get Tatum and Brown to buy into their new roles:
I think Ime is the Coach of the Year. It’s his first year coaching. To take Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown from what everybody thought should be a thing of the past to a thing of the future is a big-time thing. That’s two young guys that you’re trying to get to buy in. Both guys could think, ‘no, I should be the number-one guy,’ and you get them to buy in and that team to be playing how they’re playing.
Tatum is averaging a career-high 4.4 assists this year, while Brown’s 3.4 assists tie a career-high. Both are more involved than ever in Boston’s passing game, and their teammates have taken notice.
During that same Summer League interview, Udoka stated that he planned to “put the ball in Marcus’ hands a lot more” because Smart “kind of asked for that.” With the way Smart has played this season, Green noted his improvements as another reason why Udoka should take home the Coach of the Year award:
To get Marcus Smart looking like the point guard everyone thought Marcus Smart would be coming out. Marcus Smart, I don’t know if people remember Marcus Smart coming out of Oklahoma State, but was the ultimate winner… I think now, Marcus Smart is playing the basketball that everyone thought Marcus Smart would play when he first came out, and it’s so beautiful to see. And you know what it’s showing up in? Remember what I said Marcus Smart was back then? Marcus Smart played basketball like the ultimate winner. Woah, what are the Boston Celtics doing now? They’re winning. I think Marcus Smart has a huge, huge, huge thing to do with that. And so, Ime Udoka has to be the Coach of the Year.
Udoka won Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for February 2022, and with the Celtics’ 11-3 record in March (tied for the best in the East), he could have another one of those awards on the way. There are a ton of deserving candidates this year, but according to Green, Udoka is the frontrunner for Coach of the Year.
At a Summer League game against the Denver Nuggets, Udoka laid out some pretty significant plans for three of Boston’s core players. Regarding the team’s two stars, Tatum and Brown, he stated that he wanted to help them “be playmakers.” Green pointed out Udoka’s ability to get Tatum and Brown to buy into their new roles:
I think Ime is the Coach of the Year. It’s his first year coaching. To take Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown from what everybody thought should be a thing of the past to a thing of the future is a big-time thing. That’s two young guys that you’re trying to get to buy in. Both guys could think, ‘no, I should be the number-one guy,’ and you get them to buy in and that team to be playing how they’re playing
To get Marcus Smart looking like the point guard everyone thought Marcus Smart would be coming out. Marcus Smart, I don’t know if people remember Marcus Smart coming out of Oklahoma State, but was the ultimate winner… I think now, Marcus Smart is playing the basketball that everyone thought Marcus Smart would play when he first came out, and it’s so beautiful to see. And you know what it’s showing up in? Remember what I said Marcus Smart was back then? Marcus Smart played basketball like the ultimate winner. Woah, what are the Boston Celtics doing now? They’re winning. I think Marcus Smart has a huge, huge, huge thing to do with that. And so, Ime Udoka has to be the Coach of the Year.
“They need their money for Minkah, they are not going to make two back-breaking deals for two safeties, especially when the second safety (Mathieu) is 30 years old (on May 13) and Kevin Colbert is repeatedly on the record saying if he’s getting a veteran player — (if) he’s signing somebody else’s veteran — he prefers that it’s a veteran off a first contract,” she said.
What’s changed is that Mathieu’s price tag may have come down, at least in part because Honey Badger has attached some value to the opportunity to play for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
“Honey Badger may not need quite as much money as I was told that he needed a week ago,” offered Kinkhabwala, who indicated that the Steelers also remain open to bringing back Terrell Edmunds instead.