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Marcus Smart: “A lot of times you see guys, this league tries to turn guys into one-dimensional. We got our guys, so we need you not to do this when it’s like we can do it. And you need us to be able to do it because on nights where your guy, they’re taking them out, you need some other way to get some production. So definitely that familiarity with Ime Udoka allows me to go out there and understand that I can play free and play with confidence because I don’t have to worry and look over my shoulder every time I do something right or wrong.”
The respect Smart immediately had for Udoka, because of his direct and sometimes harsh approach, was mutual. In many ways, the two of them are alike. They take pride in their toughness, their defiance, their resilience and, above all, their insatiable desire to win. So, once they had a chance to reunite in Houston five years after their only season together and finish what they started, it was a no-brainer for both. The pair, reunited, face their old team, the Celtics, Monday night. With the Rockets at 6-1 and Smart serving as a key reserve so far, the reunion is going well. “I thought he was a perfect fit who addresses a lot of what we were missing,” Udoka said in a one-on-one interview with The Athletic late last week. “I thought we lacked a little depth at point guard, and he brings that defensive identity. We still have high-level defenders, but he brings that edge and toughness and tone-setting that Dillon (Brooks) brought to us before he left the building.”
“He’s not a conventional coach. He can be very controversial. He challenges norms that most coaches wouldn’t challenge, especially against certain players,” Smart said. “That’s the beauty of who he is as a coach and who he is as a person. It’s not a facade. It’s real. I grew up around that my whole life, so it wasn’t anything new to me.”
“There are some guys who have that defensive mentality, but it’s rare to have a guy who comes into the game and impacts it the way he does on that side of the ball,” Udoka said. “You saw it with Dillon, you saw it with Pat (Beverley). There are certain guys you have to prepare for because of what they do defensively. He’s one of them.” “(Udoka’s) mentality matched mine,” Smart added. “He allowed me to be me without any persecution.”
In 2021, Smart was a beloved figure among Boston fans and an unquestioned leader in the locker room. If Udoka was going to be true to himself and establish his no-nonsense persona as head coach, he’d have to hold Smart to the same standard he held everyone else. But when first-year coaches handle these situations the wrong way, they can alienate players in irreparable ways. Udoka decided to meet with Smart one-on-one and explain why he needed to suspend him for Boston’s preseason finale and how crucial it would be for their relationship to be even stronger coming away from this one incident. “My main rule is being on time and respecting everyone’s time,” Udoka said. “After I let him know my decision, we sat down and had a good talk, and that set the tone for who we were gonna be as a team and what kind of example I wanted him to set for everybody else. That’s just how I am. I’m an equal opportunist, whether it’s the starters, the bench guys or whoever it is.”
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Will Guillory: Per Ime Udoka, Alperen Sengun is out tonight in Dallas with low back soreness. Marcus Smart is likely to return after missing the last few games with a left forearm strain.
Will Guillory: Ime Udoka says Marcus Smart will be OUT tonight vs Atlanta. The hope is he can return on Wednesday at Milwaukee. Steven Adams is also out tonight and Udoka says he expects Adams to miss a week or two after the team did some imaging on his calf.
t: Fred VanVleet on whether Ime Udoka ever smiles lol "Yes but not during the game. The 21 hours of the day he's pretty unserious. He's actually very funny, joking all the time, making jokes and cracking jokes on people. But during that game though it's hard to get him to smile. Always try to make jokes with them and loosen him up a little bit during the game cause no matter if he's mad at us, he's mad at the refs, he's mad at the other team. He's just an angry bull out there, man. But that's why I'm out there to kind of be the bridge between him and our team"
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Irving finished 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting in 22 minutes during the Mavs' 132-115 preseason win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. "I didn't expect him to play this well after being off for so long, just [because of] the rhythm of the game," May said. "It's just a testament to his work." It was Irving's first game action since he tore the ACL in his left knee on March 3, 2025. He revealed this week that he sustained a Grade 2 calf strain in December, interrupting his rehabilitation and factoring into the decision to rule him out for the season after the All-Star break. "He's back to being who he is," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. "He'll only get better as he gets his rhythm back in real NBA games."
Marc Stein: Rockets coach Ime Udoka says Kevin Durant will not play in Sunday's second game of Houston's exhibition series in Macao against Dallas. The Mavericks' Kyrie Irving is expected to play in Sunday's game -- his first game action in nearly 20 months -- after being held out today.
Varun Shankar: Ime Udoka on waiving Rafael Castro and the open two-way spot: "Our abundance of bigs in camp, having three and then Oscar [Tshiebwe] is here, playing really well." Says Houston is looking at 4-5 candidates to fill that open spot.
Michael Shapiro: Ime Udoka says he wants to see Rockets “be more of a tight-knit group” in 2026-27. Said it’s an “area we need to improve on.” Houston held a number of team dinners + group outings this summer. Udoka says Macau trip should bring team together like his prior trips abroad w/Spurs.
