Due to a violation of team policies, Ime Udoka might be suspended for all or part of the 2022–23 Celtics season.
According to sources, Udoka will be disciplined for “his role in a consenting, personal relationship with a lady who works for the franchise.” According to those sources, the relationship is against team policy, and internal conversations have proposed a suspension that may cover the entirety of the Celtics’ 2022–2023 season. According to ESPN’s sources, Udoka’s employment is not in danger.
The relationship is regarded as going against the organization’s rules, and the recommended punishment for Udoka is practically unheard of for an NBA head coach who is currently in office. As early as Thursday is anticipated for a formal announcement.
According to sources cited by ESPN, assistant coach Joe Mazzulla will likely take over as Boston’s interim coach for the season.
Will Hardy, the team’s top assistant coach, left Udoka in June to take the Utah Jazz coaching job.
After finishing his NBA playing career, Udoka worked as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, and Brooklyn Nets until joining the Celtics last summer.
Brad Stevens was succeeded by him as coach. After Danny Ainge, his immediate predecessor in that position, made the decision to depart the company, Stevens stepped upstairs to become Boston’s president of basketball operations.
The Boston Celtics went from being below.500 in late January to finishing the season with a 28-7 record over their final 35 games under Udoka’s direction in his first season as coach. Following that, they made an outstanding run through the Eastern Conference playoffs, making it to the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years.
Udoka is the first head coach since Nick Nurse in 2019 to advance to the NBA Finals in his first season in that position. He is the sixth coach to achieve so in the previous 25 years.
Additionally, he made postseason history by becoming the first rookie coach to triumph in multiple Game 7s, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. Before Boston succumbed to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals in six games, Udoka guided Boston to triumphs against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals and the Miami Heat in the East finals.
