“I think we have a younger group that can relate to these guys, and they’ve noticed that,” Ime Udoka says of his coaching staff. “If you build those relationships, you can coach them much harder.”
At 47 years old, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka isn’t that far removed from his days as an NBA player. In practices during the 2025 playoffs, he occasionally joined Houston’s current players in shooting drills.
Many of Udoka’s assistant coaches with the Rockets (Ben Sullivan, Royal Ivey, Garrett Jackson, Cam Hodges, Mike Moser, and Will Dunn) are of a similar age demographic or even younger.
That’s by design. In an exclusive interview with Space City Home Network’s Vanessa Richardson, the in-game, sideline reporter for Houston’s regional TV broadcasts, Udoka elaborated on his philosophy for hiring and retaining coaches. Among his comments:
They push guys, but they also build those relationships and love them up, at the same time.
I think we have a very relatable staff, and that was a goal of mine, to have guys in here that have played and have a player development background. They can share the experiences with our young guys, and it’s not always about the basketball, on the court. It’s the talks about real-life things, off the court, as well. I think we have a younger group that can relate to these guys, and they’ve noticed that from day one. The bottom line is, if you build those relationships, you can coach them much harder.
After finishing at 22-60 and last place in the 15-team Western Conference in the season prior to Udoka’s arrival, the Rockets have improved to 41-41 in 2023-24 (No. 11 in the West) and 52-30 in 2024-25 (No. 2 in the West).
Considering that year-on-year growth, the philosophy seems to be working, and especially for a Houston team that features a “young core” of seven first-round prospects (Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, and Reed Sheppard) obtained from the NBA’s 2021 through 2024 draft cycles.
All were 23 years old or younger last season, which means they’re at an impressionable stage in their development. With most taking a step forward in 2024-25, led by Sengun’s first All-Star berth, Udoka and his staff appear to be pushing many of the right buttons.