Celtics' Ime Udoka Says He Finished 2nd in Pistons, Pacers and Cavs' HC Searches

Ime Udoka led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first season as head coach, but that was only made possible by other teams passing on him first.

Following the Celtics' 100-96 win over the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday to advance to the NBA Finals, Udoka divulged that he finished second in numerous head-coaching searches before the Celtics hired him this past offseason.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Udoka said:

"The one thing I would say is the disappointment of coming in second a few years really hurt. But if you told me I'd have to wait for Boston and get [bypassed] by some of the ones that I got beat out on, it's a no-brainer for me. I'm happy to be in Boston. ...

"You really want me to tell you? Detroit, Indiana, Cleveland. I can go down the list. That was tough because I believe I was ready. But I couldn't be more proud to be a part of an organization that's pushing for winning and championships. You can be in a lot of different situations. There are only 30 teams and I get that, but to not be in a rebuild and being in an expectation pressure-filled situation, I wouldn't trade that in any day."

The Detroit Pistons most recently hired a new head coach in 2018, the Indiana Pacers made coaching changes in 2020 and 2021, and the Cleveland Cavaliers hired John Beilein in 2019 before replacing him with interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and removing the interim tag from Bickerstaff in 2020.

Meanwhile, Udoka patiently waited his turn and served as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs from 2012 to 2019, the Philadelphia 76ers from 2019 to 2020 and the Brooklyn Nets from 2020 to 2021.

In addition to his experience as an NBA assistant coach, Udoka played in the league for seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Spurs and Sacramento Kings, averaging 5.2 points in 316 career games.

Udoka paid his dues both as a player and a coach until the ideal opportunity became available this past offseason when Brad Stevens stepped down as Celtics head coach and became the organization's president of basketball operations.

The 44-year-old Udoka took over a Celtics team with some question marks regarding whether it could contend for a championship, but there was a strong foundation in place.

Boston had reached the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons entering the 2021-22 campaign, and it had a young, talented core led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Coming off a 36-36 season that saw the Celtics lose to the Nets in the first round of the playoffs, there was chatter about whether Boston should trade one of Tatum or Brown.

Instead, the Celtics stayed the course and both players had huge years, plus Marcus Smart was named Defensive Player of the Year, Robert Williams enjoyed a career year and veteran Al Horford had a resurgent season.

With Udoka leading the way, the Celtics shook off a slow start to the 2021-22 season, earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and went the distance in the playoffs.

Now, Boston heads into the NBA Finals where it will face a Golden State Warriors team looking to win its fourth NBA championship in the past eight seasons.