Boston Celtics hire Ime Udoka as the franchise’s new coach

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 01: Assistant Coach Ime Udoka of the Brooklyn Nets looks on against the Boston Celtics in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center on June 01, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 01: Assistant Coach Ime Udoka of the Brooklyn Nets looks on against the Boston Celtics in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center on June 01, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /
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The wait for a new leader is over as the Boston Celtics have announced former Brooklyn Nets assistant Ime Udoka as their new head coach. Udoka now takes over the reins from Brad Stevens, who stepped down from that position and transcended into a higher role upstairs within the organization.

In the meantime, Udoka will trade black for green as he looks to push Boston to a greater level than falling out of the playoffs early year after year. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are great players and an attractive commodity for any coach seeking out this position, but they are not getting any younger. Additionally, given how competitive the East is, with teams like Milwaukee and Brooklyn, and even more shocking, the New York Knicks, there is no room for error.

The wait for a new leader in Boston is over as the Celtics have announced former Brooklyn Nets assistant Ime Udoka as their new head coach.

We just saw how the Atlanta Hawks, a team that was living large in NBA purgatory for a period of time, now find themselves one series win away from appearing in the NBA Finals because of the right coach and the right scheme. Having Trae Young doesn’t hurt either, but that’s well besides the point.

Udoka is a good coach; please make no mistake about it. But Brooklyn and Boston is a different court in and of itself. For one, the Celtics don’t have a Kevin Durant or James Harden or a Kyrie Irving, whom Celtics fans have no love lost for, not since he placed his shoe on a sacred logo and had a teenage child toss a water bottle in a tantrum and soon be ejected. The Celtics have Brown and Tatum, and they will now have a new voice to hear with responsibilities to fulfill.

Ime Udoka has entered a prestigious role, with a rigorous list of expectations to fulfill, not just by the organization but the fans themselves.

2008 seems farther and farther away, and 2010 is a year Celtics fans would want to forget, even though it was a trip to the Finals. Since then, only the conference finals have been the farthest destination for the franchise tied with the Lakers on having the most NBA Championships.

To put it lightly, those living in Boston aren’t necessarily satisfied, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. They want to win, and at any cost. They most certainly have won games, but not necessarily when it counts.

Boston has a reputation for teams underachieving in recent years, and that tag won’t go anywhere unless it gets fixed. Danny Ainge did what he could, but most of his best work came early in his tenure.

Tatum and Brown are good, but mostly, the only green that has appeared on Boston’s record is the dollars spent on investments in star players that have left recently, i.e., Irving and Kemba Walker.

Every move doesn’t work out. Sure. But getting the right coach? That’s one decision that cannot afford to be incorrect. It’s likely the Celtics got the right man for the job, but no judgment can be made until he steps on the practice court and prepares his team for the arduous journey ahead.

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