Celtics Can Thank These Teams For Passing On Ime Udoka With NBA Finals Berth
Udoka has been a gem in his first year in Boston
The organizational changes of the Boston Celtics, despite the lackluster start of their respective tenures, have elevated the franchise to where it long has wanted to be.
And a major reason behind that is the impact of first-year head coach Ime Udoka. Udoka now has the Celtics competing for the NBA Finals in his debut campaign.
Fortunately for Boston, a handful of other teams didn’t tab Udoka as their head coach first, and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens didn’t let the opportunity pass him by.
“But if you told me I’d have to wait for Boston and get (bypassed) by some of the ones that I got beat out on, it’s a no-brainer for me. I’m happy to be in Boston,” Udoka told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes in a story published Monday.
Udoka even revealed the teams where he was a finalist for the job, but didn’t land the position.
“You really want me to tell you? Detroit, Indiana, Cleveland,” Udoka told Haynes. “I can go down the list. That was tough because I believe I was ready. But I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of an organization that’s pushing for winning and championships. You can be in a lot of different situations. There are only 30 teams and I get that, but to not be in a rebuild and being in an expectation pressure-filled situation, I wouldn’t trade that in any day.”
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The Celtics, given that the organization’s remarkable in-season turnaround now has led to consecutive Game 7 victories, wouldn’t trade it for anything either.
