According to Associated Press on Wednesday, the hiring was first reported by ESPN but the deal was yet to be formally officially announced by the club, as at the time of filing this report.
Aside from the great Hakeem Olajuwon, Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo, Nigeria has had a slew of players excelling well in the NBA with Ime Udoka being one of them.
Multiple reports including New York Times and ESPN all stated that Udoka is on track to land his first head coaching job with Boston Celtics.
Udoka, who was a former key player with Nigeria’s D’Tigers, is stepping into his first position as the 18th head coach of Celtics after nine years as an assistant.
Congrats to our very own Ime Udoka.
The first Nigerian head coach in NBA History!
The Celtics got a good one! Green and white like always. pic.twitter.com/zltGKz0ntA
— D’Tigers | Nigeria Basketball (@NigeriaBasket) June 23, 2021
Born in America to a Nigerian father and an American mother, Udoka had some stints in NBA with La Lakers, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Spurs and Sacramento Kings.
In between these stints in NBA, fiancé of Hollywood actress Nia Long, played in the lower leagues in America, in Argentina and in Spain.
Though born and raised in the United States, Udoka’s late father was born in Nigeria, which qualified Udoka for Nigerian citizenship.
With the reported hiring, Ime Udoka is set to become the first Nigerian American to be a head coach in National Basketball Association (NBA) history once Boston Celtics finally announces.
Udoka represented Nigeria at two African Championships, one in Algeria, 2005 and Madagascar, 2011. He also played at the 2006 FIBA World Championships.
“feel free to disagree in the comments and let me know what you think!” 📎 COMMENTS 👀 ☝️👆👈👉✍️🤳 DROP YOUR OPINIONS
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