(Basketball news) Boston Celtics have suspended their head coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 season and with no guarantee that he will be back with the franchise. The Celtics organisation came out and said that Udoka was suspended for “violations of team policies.” People in the Celtics management said that Udoka was being sanctioned because of an improper relationship with a female member of the organisation. Those people did reveal much because of the anonymity of the situation.
Mazzulla, who recently interviewed for the Utah Jazz coaching job this summer, will take over the team on an interim basis as he was Udoka’s assistant in Boston last season. Udoka’s other coaching team consisted of Damon Stoudemire, Ben Sullivan, Aaron Miles and Tony Dobbins. Udoka had a brilliant first season with the Celtics, finishing the regular season with a record of 51-31 and then going 26-6 in the final 32 games before leading the Celtics past Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Miami on the way to the NBA Finals. The Celtics eventually lost the title to the Golden State Warriors in six games but his coaching credentials were praised by former players and basketball pundits.
Mazzulla’s first real game with the Celtics will be against Philadelphia in Boston on 18th October in the first game of the new NBA season. It’s the second major disciplinary situation in the NBA, following the decision last week by Commissioner Adam Silver to suspend Robert Sarver, the owner of the Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury for one year and a fine of $10 million after an investigation showed his irregular patterns of disturbing work, not maintaining a code of conduct in the organisation and it also included abusive and racist language towards the employees.
The 45-year-old Udoka spent the majority of his NBA playing career with San Antonio, then continued with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich by joining as an assistant. Udoka was on the Spurs’ backroom staff from 2012 through 2019, and it didn’t take long for him to become one of the leading names on the shortlist of candidates when head coach jobs opened. He spent the 2019-20 season in Philadelphia, the 2020-21 season in Brooklyn, and then Celtics hired him as a head coach in June 2021 as the successor to Brad Stevens, who moved into a front-office role.
“A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date,” the Celtics said.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka faces possible suspension: “I want to apologise to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organisation, and my family for letting them down. I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment,” he said.
“The future is bright and we’re just getting started,” Udoka said after the NBA Finals.
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