Having been a play-by-play commentator for the Boston Celtics since 1981, Mike Gorman has seen it all. He’s watched the Celtics’ highest of highs as well as their lowest of lows. What he’s seen this season has been nothing short of miraculous. The 2021-22 Celtics pulled off one of the most impressive turnarounds in NBA history this season, and Gorman has enjoyed every second of it.
Gorman had the pleasure of witnessing the team’s season flip on its head firsthand. While Gorman acknowledges that there were plenty of factors that have gone into how the Celtics season turned out, he singled out Udoka’s work as head coach for how the Celtics have gotten as far as they have.
Again, since Gorman has had a front-row seat to all that’s gone down on the court for the Celtics this season, it would be hard to doubt his account of events.
Gorman’s words also reinforce the notion that culture change is not instantaneous. Remember that there were a lot of rumblings that the Celtics had both a divided and toxic locker room last season. That doesn’t simply vanish the minute you change coaches. Forming a winning culture takes time. Results did not come immediately once Udoka started calling the shots, but once they arrived, the Celtics took off and they haven’t looked back since.
Ime Udoka Gives Another Encouraging Update on Robert Williams III
Just before Game 2 against the Brooklyn Nets, Ime Udoka said that Robert Williams was cleared for contact and was playing 3-on-3 practice drills. However, Udoka did not change his stance on Williams not being available to play in the first round. Nonetheless, after Game 2, Udoka gave another update on Williams that should serve to excite Celtics fans.
“He’ll travel with us,” Udoka said. “It’s different than at the end of the season where… in the early stages of his rehab, we wanted him to be (in Boston)… This is the time of year (when) we want him around the team camaraderie-wise and his impact just being around the group to be in that playoff atmosphere… Regarding him, he’s progressing well. He’s had no setbacks and that benchmark of where we aimed of 4-6 weeks is looking good, so we’re happy with his progress.”
Even though Udoka still believes they won’t see Williams in the first round, having him travel with the team is a good sign that Williams’ recovery is right on schedule. If the Celtics move on to the next round, Williams should be back in action by then.
Charles Barkley Hilariously Mispronounces Ime Udoka’s Last Name
Because this is his first year in the league as a head coach, it shouldn’t be too surprising if an NBA analyst or two might pronounce Ime Udoka’s name wrong. However, that doesn’t make it any less funny if and when they do. Especially if they mispronounce it in the way that Charles Barkley did last night.
During the halftime show of Game 2 between the Celtics and Nets, Barkley started to talk about what Ime Udoka should do to adjust in the second half, but he was soon interrupted when his coworkers Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson made note of (and laughed at) how he pronounced Udoka’s last name.
Now to clarify, Barkley did not actually call Udoka “Coach Okey-Dokey”. In fact, it sounds much more like he said “Coach Udokey” when referencing the coach’s name. Still, it’s pretty funny to hear Udoka’s last name be pronounced similar to the term “okey-dokey”.
Hopefully, Charles will do better next time.
Voice of Celtics Sounds off on Ime Udoka: ‘It All Changed’