The Houston Rockets and Ime Udoka have agreed to a multi-year contract extension that will make him among the NBA's highest-paid head coaches, multiple outlets reported Thursday.
Terms of the new deal have not been released. Udoka had two seasons remaining on a four-year contract he signed when hired by the Rockets in April 2023.
Udoka has transformed the Rockets into one of the Western Conference's top contenders since taking over a team that was one of the NBA's bottom-feeders prior to his arrival. After he led Houston to a 41-41 record in his first season, the Rockets earned the West's No. 2 play-off seed in 2024-25 after going 52-30 and achieving the franchise's first post-season appearance since 2019-20.
Prior to Udoka's hiring, Houston compiled a 59-177 record over a three-year span from 2020-23.
Udoka sports a 144-102 regular-season record as a head coach, which includes a one-season stint with the Boston Celtics in 2021-22. He guided the Celtics to a 51-31 record and an Eastern Conference championship before losing in six games to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals.
The 47-year-old was later suspended by the Celtics for the 2022-23 season for violation of team policies before eventually being dismissed following the conclusion of that campaign.
ESPN reported earlier this month that the New York Knicks viewed Udoka as a top candidate for their head coaching vacancy but were denied permission by the Rockets to speak with him.
An NBA player for seven seasons from 2003-11, Udoka began his coaching career as an assistant under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio in 2012. He spent seven seasons on the Spurs' staff and was a member of the team's most recent NBA title run in 2013-14.
