The Boston Celtics have suspended head coach Ime Udoka for the entire 2022-23 season for “violations of team policies” stemming from an alleged consensual relationship with a team staffer.
Udoka also released the following statement:
“I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, 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.”
Joe Mazzulla, an assistant with the Celtics since 2019 will be the interim head coach for this upcoming season while the team continues to evaluate his long-term position with the team.
Suspended for a year over a consensual relationship?
Wednesday, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Udoka was facing a “significant suspension” for what was being described as “violations of organizational guidelines”.
It wasn’t until later yesterday that we finally got some context when Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic revealed that it was an alleged consensual relationship with a female Celtics staff member who was landing Udoka in all of this hot water.
It doesn’t seem like Udoka’s partner Nia Long is currently employed by the Celtics, however, it’s hard to believe that a personal affair could amount to a season-long ban by the team. That is unless that’s some clause in his contract where something like this has to be disclosed or we’re not getting the entire story out of Boston.
In any sense, Udoka had the Celtics clicking in his short tenure with the team taking Boston all the way to the NBA Finals last year before losing in six games to the Golden State Warriors.
