Ime Udoka Calls out the NBA For Copying One Of His Major Strategies

Ime Udoka was a major pickup for the Houston Rockets, and even with the scandal that surrounded his departure from the Boston Celtics, he's been an incredible head coach in Houston thus far. In two seasons with the Rockets, they turned things around with a 41-41 record before taking a huge leap forward in 2024–25, when the team was the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference on the back of a 52-30 record.

With the team adding Kevin Durant this offseason, even with how loaded the West is set to be, this team is confident it is a genuine NBA Championship threat this upcoming season. Now that the team is so tall, they're set to play many double-big lineups with Steven Adams and Alperen Şengün, something we've seen plenty of around the league in recent years.

That was something Udoka was recently asked about, and in his answer, he called the NBA a copycat league, saying teams across the league want to be like them.

“Everybody’s trying to be like us. They can’t really do it like us, but take a little pride, I guess.”

This is certainly an odd comment, as there have been plenty of lineups to use two bigs in the NBA, even as recently as 2023–24 with Jarrett Allen/Evan Mobley and Rudy Gobert/Karl-Anthony Towns. Still, Udoka believes this is all his doing. Ultimately, he's not wrong when he says the NBA is a copycat league, with tactics shifting all the time. Heading into 2025–26, we'll see if Udoka and his tall lineup can get the job done.