Ime Udoka is staying in Houston, and he’s getting paid.
The Rockets have reached a long-term extension with their head coach, one that will make him a very rich man, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“Following the team’s excellent 2024-25 season, the Rockets reportedly signed Udoka to a long-term extension that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA,” Charania said.
The move comes after back-to-back seasons of serious improvement under Udoka’s leadership.
The Rockets went from 21-60 in 2022–23 to .500 in his first season, then took another leap this past year, finishing with 52 wins and securing the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. It marked Houston’s first playoff appearance in five seasons.
Despite a first-round exit to the Warriors in seven games, the front office clearly saw enough to lock Udoka in for the long haul.
Udoka was originally hired by the Rockets in 2023 after the team fired Stephen Silas.
Prior to that, he made waves in his lone season as head coach of the Boston Celtics, leading them to the NBA Finals in 2022.
That run was followed by a suspension that sidelined him for the entire 2022–23 season due to “violating the team’s code of conduct” after a reported “improper, consensual relationship with a team staffer.”
Weeks after his suspension, he was nearly hired by the Brooklyn Nets, but the deal fell through. Boston then promoted Joe Mazzulla to the full-time role.
Following Houston’s playoff elimination this spring, Udoka’s name started buzzing again, this time linked to the New York Knicks after they fired Tom Thibodeau.
“The Knicks reportedly asked the Rockets for permission to speak with Udoka about the opening, but were denied,” according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Cwik.
With that potential suitor shut down and this extension signed, Udoka’s focus now turns to one thing: bringing a championship back to Houston, something the franchise hasn’t done since 1995.
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