Uduka s next step is reportedly to bring a championship to the Houston Rockets

According to Aikansh Choudhury, a reporter from the US sports media NBA analysis network. The Houston Rockets will enter the 2025-26 NBA season as one of the favorites to lift the Larry O'Brien trophy.

This is a major turn for the Houston Rockets, just a few years after trading their cornerstone superstar James Harden, the team now has multiple talented players.

And, with Kevin Durant's trade, the Rockets are undoubtedly one of the top teams in the West.

But even a talented roster can fail unless they have a clever head coach behind the clipboard. The Rockets seem to be happy with Ime Uduka in this regard.

Ime Uduka's NBA coaching experience

Rockets hired Uduka as head coach before the 2023-24 NBA season began. In his debut season, he led the team to a record of 41 wins and 41 losses.

While that isn't enough to make the playoffs, it's much better than the Rockets' record of 22-60 last season.

Last season, Uduka and others ended the team's four-year playoff drought, and the Rockets locked in the league's second seed with a record of 52-30.

To be fair, Uduka’s genius is not surprising as he led the Boston Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals in his only year as team head coach. Uduka got the job after a year as an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia Sixers. But coach Uduka's biggest source of experience is of course his seven years as Greg Popovich's assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs.

Ime Uduka has won the trust of Houston Rockets players and senior executives

Considering how Uduka changes the Rockets in just two years, it would be foolish to leave before the 2025-26 NBA season.

With rumors that the New York Knicks were trying to poach Uduka, the Rockets offered him a huge contract extension earlier this offseason.

Talking about his players' opinions about him, star center Shin-kyung praised Uduka, calling him one of the best coaches in the NBA right now.

Uduka also affected Jabbarry Smith Jr. staying in Houston for as long as possible. However, fans are still waiting for Durant’s view of Uduka, as the slimming death is likely to become his number one star next season.

Now the Rockets have basically retained their core lineup and have won the league's hot forward star Durant, which further increased the cap of this brand new team, and Uduka has enough confidence to bring a championship to the city.

Injecting fresh championship bloodline into this young team once again helps to grow quickly and achieve success.

Are you optimistic about the new Rockets led by Uduka to strive for the championship?