Ime Udoka Puts The Officials On Blast Following The Rockets' Loss To The Denver Nuggets

The Houston Rockets entered the 2025–26 season full of expectations, and after taking a step forward a year ago and then acquiring Kevin Durant, many believed they'd be a genuine NBA Championship threat this season. Early in the year, they certainly look like that, posting a 16–7 record through 23 games as they look to solidify themselves as a threat to the Nuggets and Thunder in the Western Conference.

In their last game, they had the opportunity to make a statement against the Denver Nuggets, but with Nikola Jokic going off for 39, 15, and 10, they came up just short by a score of 128–125.

However, it wasn't all about their opponents, as there were several controversial calls throughout the game that went against the Rockets. That didn't go unnoticed by head coach Ime Udoka, who put the officials on blast following the game.

"Most poorly officiated game I've seen in a long time. Two have no business being out there, and the crew chief was acting star-struck."  

While some head coaches like to dance around poor officiating, Udoka went straight at the officials in charge of this one, and with his comments, he's likely to draw plenty of attention from Adam Silver and the league.

While there's not always an appropriate time to call out officials, every now and then, it's great to see coaches being honest about their thoughts on the performance of the officials, and in this case, Udoka was more than justified for these comments.