Jabari Smith Jr. talks Rockets culture shift under Ime Udoka

General manager Rafael Stone made three key investments this summer, hiring Ime Udoka as head coach, then signing veteran guards Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to contracts surpassing a combined $200 million. The trio of moves are each paying dividends. VanVleet is a superb half-court steward with some serious crunch-time chops. Brooks is a sneaky Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Yet Udoka may deserve the most credit for Houston’s fast turnaround.

Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. detailed Udoka’s impact on the franchise Wednesday during an appearance on FanDuel’s “Run It Back” program with Shams Charania. Smith detailed the team’s increased “structure” compared to the Stephen Silas era, citing one key word echoed throughout the roster: “culture.”

“I would say just ‘culture,'” Smith said of Udoka’s greatest change thus far. “Everybody knows how he is as a person, how serious he is, and his approach to the game, his competitiveness. He’s just bringing that to us, you know.”

Smith added there is far more “accountability” on hand with Udoka leading the way, but noted the Rockets’ new coach has the benefit of leaning on engaged veterans (something notably absent during Silas’ tenure).

“It’s not as much looseness. I would say it’s a lot more strict,” Smith said when comparing the two coaches. “It’s a lot more structured. Accountability, a lot more of that. And that comes with veterans and taking the pressure off of the coach a little bit.”

Smith’s comments shouldn’t necessarily read as an indictment of his former coach. Silas was a leader who stood up for and by his young players in a difficult era, and frankly, the extended struggles from 2020-23 were largely the product of a roster designed to lose. Instead, we should note Smith’s words as the latest in a string of endorsements for Houston’s new coach. 

As we’ve noted across the six-game win streak, the Udoka Effect (trademark pending) is real. This is a coach with NBA Finals experience, one who seems near-universally respected across the sport. Udoka blends a focused intensity with a relatability to players, and you can see his guidance of Alperen Şengün, Jalen Green and the team’s young talent in real time.

Across Stone’s three years as general manager, his hiring of Udoka is perhaps his shrewdest move to date.