Rockets Udoka Claims NBA Officiating Has Gotten 'Soft' Over Last 10 Year

Jonah Kubicek | Apr 9, 2024

Mar 19, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka. / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Rockets are one of the grittiest teams in the league. This season, they took a step back from the individual, isolation-heavy style employed by James Harden and Jalen Green earlier in his career and built a roughneck mentality focused on defense.

Between Dillon Brooks and Ime Udoka claiming that he has no issue with his team fouling when it's strategic, Houston is one of the league's teams considered to be "in the trenches," so to speak. In last night's game against the Dallas Mavericks, Amen Thompson was ejected for a hard foul on Maxi Kleber. It was the first ejection of his career.

Mar 31, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (1) drives with the ball as Daniel Gafford (21) of the Dallas Mavericks plays defense. / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

After the game, Udoka sounded off on NBA officiating, which has changed a lot since he last played in 2011. That might have been a normal technical 10 years ago," said Udoka. "But again, the bumping match, and if he's grabbed and gets the guy off him, like I said, it's a little soft nowadays."

Udoka has not held his tongue much this season, which has endeared him to his hard-nosed roster. As one of the younger coaches in the league, he likely sees himself as an extra player on the bench, and he's afraid to go to war or make enemies in order to stand up for his team.

While the Rockets are eliminated from playoff contention with the loss to Dallas, expect Udoka to cultivate the culture in Houston this offseason, and don't expect him to offer any punishments for Thompson, who was just playing the new brand of Houston basketball.