Ime Udoka reportedly a serious candidate for Raptors head coaching job

BOSTON -- Ime Udoka may be back in the NBA in the near future. And he may not be too far away from the Boston Celtics.

The NBA playoffs are in full swing and so is the league's coaching carousel. The Raptors fired Nick Nurse on Friday, and according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Udoka is a serious candidate to replace him in Toronto.

Udoka reportedly interviewed for the Houston Rockets head coaching job earlier this week, with a second interview likely coming. But Nurse is now the favorite to land that gig, according to Wojnarowski.

Any team hiring Udoka will have to do an extensive background check on the coach, after he was dismissed from the Celtics after one season -- which included an epic second-half turnaround and a trip to the NBA Finals -- for having an alleged affair with a female staff member. He was considered for the Brooklyn Nets head coaching job earlier this season, but the Nets opted to go with Jacque Vaughn instead.

Udoka, a longtime assistant under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, previously interviewed with the Raptors in 2018 before the team hired Nurse. He is expected to interview for a handful of openings this offseason.

If Toronto is comfortable with bringing in Udoka, they'll be getting a bright coach and former player who can connect with the current crop of NBA players. He was never afraid to criticize Celtics players when they weren't giving it their best effort, which prompted them to make a big leap in his one season at the helm.

Landing in Toronto would mean Udoka would face off against the Celtics four times during the regular season.