After officiating criticism, NBA fines Rockets head coach Ime Udoka
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As is customary when officiating grievances are aired in a public forum, Monday’s postgame press-conference comments by Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka came at a price.
On Wednesday, the NBA fined Udoka $25,000 for “public criticism of officiating,” as announced by James Jones, executive vice president and head of basketball operations.
Of course, it turned out that Udoka’s comments weren’t baseless. The league’s Last Two Minute report, which evaluates the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and all overtime periods during close games, found that three pivotal calls were missed during the final 100 seconds of overtime.
All went in favor of Denver (19-6), resulting in a net swing of up to six points in a game that Houston (16-7) lost by three.
So, the league acknowledged that Udoka and the Rockets had some validity to their complaints. The NBA would simply prefer that those conversations would be handled more privately.
Ime Udoka on officiating after Rockets loss in Denver.
“Most poorly officiated game I’ve seen in a long time. Two have no business being out there and the crew chief was acting star struck.” @SpaceCityHN@HoustonRocketspic.twitter.com/8NIJFlWSW6— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) December 16, 2025
The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/2aWGmVcrqe— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 17, 2025
All 3 calls the NBA said last night’s officiating crew got wrong. All 3 were in overtime and all 3 went against the Rockets. pic.twitter.com/xc6r53ENPo— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) December 16, 2025
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: After officiating criticism, NBA fines Rockets head coach Ime Udoka
