Lou Williams Blasts Rockets' Ime Udoka for Calling out Alperen Sengun

Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun had the worst single week of bad PR from a Rockets player in recent memory. Sengun was initially snubbed from this weekend's All-Star game, was called out by Rockets coach Ime Udoka for his defense and went viral for the wrong reasons -- cursing out a female officiating member.

Multiple times, I should add.

The bad PR was self-imposed. Sengun crossed the line.

He later admitted it (and owned up to it, I should also note).

He apologized to the referee almost right away (well, technically after the game).

And as for the All-Star team, he got the nod as an injury replacement for Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard and MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The only thing left was Udoka's assessment of his defense.

Which was specifically geared towards teams hunting Sengun on pick-and-rolls.

Players have been seeking out the switch on defense.

And according to Udoka, it's been a common theme since he arrived as Houston's head coach, which dates back to the 2023-24 season.

Sengun took the comments in stride, using them as ammunition and motivation to improve on that end of the floor. In Houston's very next game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the two-time All-Star big man had six stocks -- three steals and three blocks (in addition to a triple-double).

However, not everyone took Udoka's comments in jest. Case in point, former Rockets guard and three-time Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, who expressed his thoughts on Fanduel's Run it Back, alongside former Rockets center DeMarcus Cousins.

"You have to know the pulse of your locker room. When you’re coaching, you gotta coach everybody individually, know how they will respond to these types of things.

I will say as a former player, I would’ve hated if my coach said this about me."

Williams continued, noting his weaknesses on the defensive end of the floor.

"I wasn’t necessarily the best defensive player in the world but I tried. And I had my energy and my effort..it was there. But if my coach would’ve said this, I would’ve hated that being his response. Because half of the job is to put me in positions to be successful. If they are gong to hunt me, put me in a position where you can hide me somewhere.

Or whether I can be an addition to the defense, as opposed to being someone that is hunted. So, I hated that."

Williams shared his real issue with Udoka's comments.

"Didn’t give us any solutions behind that, just left it there. Like, give me a solution to how we can fix this, because that’s your job. Your job is to find strengths and my weaknesses."

This is certainly a fair perspective. Udoka is known to challenge his players.

Surely not everyone appreciates his approach. In this case, it only matters how Sengun felt about his coach's viewpoint.