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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t HOUSTON, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 29: Head coach Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets speaks with the media during NBA Media Day at Toyota Center on September 29, 2025 in Houston, Texas. 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 Kenneth Richmond\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Just like every other NBA team he\u2019s ever been on, Kevin Durant<\/a>\u2018s time with the Houston Rockets<\/a> has been defined by his once-in-a-lifetime talent, winning games \u2026 and mad drama.<\/p>\n For Durant, there\u2019s also usually collateral damage in the form of coaches losing their jobs, teammates getting traded, and overall, just bridges being burned.<\/p>\n The collateral damage in Houston could be 3rd-year head coach Ime Udoka, who 1 NBA insider thinks could be on the hot seat depending on the outcome of the Rockets\u2019 1st-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the Hot Seat Coach Category, I\u2019ve got Ime Udoka,\u201d The Ringer\u2019s Bill Simmons said. \u201cI have not been impressed by the coaching of this team this year. The chemistry doesn\u2019t seem great. I think the offense has just been bizarre \u2026 I just don\u2019t understand it. And I would be very unsurprised if he was not their coach next year. Remember last year, I took (former New York Knicks<\/a> head coach ) Tom Thibodeau in this category \u2026 and I was proven correct.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lakers and Rockets play Game 1 on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not hard to see where the season went off the rails for Udoka and the Rockets \u2014 All-Star Weekend.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when several stories linked Durant to a burner account on X that was critical of teammates Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun and created several message groups that defended Durant.<\/p>\n In 2017, Durant admitted to using burner accounts while he was on the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> to defend himself online. Durant did not deny the most recent accusations; he just called it \u201cTwitter nonsense\u201d and refused to answer questions about it.<\/p>\n \u201cDurant is one of the more active players on social media \u2014 he has almost 20 million followers on X (formerly Twitter, as Durant still calls it) and 14 million on Instagram \u2014 and is not afraid to play the troll and mix it up with fans on those platforms,\u201d NBC Sports reporter reporter Kurt Helin wrote on February 19<\/a>. \u201cHe has a history with burner accounts dating back to an incident in 2017, where several tweets from a personal or \u2018burner\u2019 Twitter account about his exit from Oklahoma City were exposed, and he publicly apologized for that. In 2021, Durant was fined $50,000 by the NBA for \u201chomophobic and misogynistic language\u201d in an Instagram DM exchange with actor Michael Rapaport (who made the exchange public). He has admitted on a podcast that he had used burner accounts so he could express himself more freely online without the glare of the spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rockets were 33-20 before the All-Star break and went 19-10 after the All-Star break.<\/p>\n Udoka is no stranger to controversy, having endured 1 of the messier off-court scandals in recent memory.<\/p>\n After Udoka led the Boston Celtics<\/a> to the NBA Finals following his 1st season as head coach in 2021-22, he was suspended for the entire 2022-23 season for having what was called an \u201cinappropriate relationship\u201d with a female staff member.<\/p>\n Udoka was permanently replaced by his former assistant, Joe Mazzula, and became the head coach of the Rockets in 2023-24 and led them to the postseason in his 2nd season, where they lost in the 1st round of the Western Conference Playoffs.<\/p>\n The Rockets haven\u2019t advanced past the 1st round since 2019-20, when they lost in the Western Conference semifinals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/strong><\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories<\/span>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\nHow the Houston Rockets Became Such a Mess<\/h2>\n
Ime Udoka No Stranger to Controversy<\/h2>\n
More Heavy on Rockets<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n