The Ime Udoka era officially began today for the Boston Celtics.
And the Boston’s new head coach wasted no time in letting fans know his first plan was to work on young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“They’re going to allow me to coach them, push them,” said Udoka at Monday morning’s press conference. “They know I’m going to be on their ass, and that’s what they like about me, they’ve asked me about that. They want to be pushed, they want to be directed toward winning, and you expect that from your stars.
“The bottom line is they want to win and help us get [championship] No. 18. That part was attractive. Obviously, you see the physical talent. Now this is a chance to see them grow and become better leaders, more vocal, and continue to push them to be great.”
Udoka, the Celtics’ 18th coach in its 75-year history, will try to get the team to rise past its recent injury bugs and playoff struggles. He’s the team’s sixth Black head coach behind Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, Tom Sanders, M.L. Carr and Doc Rivers. Udoka is also the first head coach of African origin in NBA history.
To Brad Stevens, now the team’s president of basketball operations, Udoka is the right man to do what he could not.
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