On Thursday, it was announced that the Boston Celtics would be suspending head coach Ime Udoka for the entire 2022-23 season for violating team policies, after it was discovered he was having intimate relations with a female member of the organization.
Since the announcement, more details have emerged, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania revealed that the team began their investigation into Udoka after the female staffer reported to them that the head coach had made “unwanted comments” towards her.
Via The Athletic:
Some members of the Celtics organization first became aware of the relationship in July, sources said. At that time, team leadership was led to believe by both parties that the relationship was consensual. But sources said that the woman recently accused Udoka of making unwanted comments toward her — leading the team to launch a set of internal interviews.
As Charania states, the relationship was initially said to be consensual. However, this latest news seems to at least somewhat contradict that.
Whatever the case may be, Udoka clearly violated some rules and now he’s set to pay for them. He and the Celtics are coming off a season in which they made a run to the NBA Finals, where they were eventually upended by the Golden State Warriors. It was Udoka’s first year as their head coach.
The Celtics will now turn to Joe Mazzulla as their interim head coach for the season. He was the team’s top assistant last year and is said to be a hot name in NBA coaching circles. If he can put together a successful season in Udoka’s absence, it could open the door for a head coaching job elsewhere next year.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
As for Udoka, he’ll now have plenty of time to sort out his private life amid this scandal, as many have called him out for cheating on his fiancee and baby-mama, Nia Long.
