For the first time since Ime Udoka, the head coach of the Boston Celtics, was suspended for breaking team rules following reports that he had an affair with a female employee, the squad faced the media.
The news broke last week, right before the preseason was set to get underway, and it caught the players off guard.
“I suppose that’s how everyone feels. All-Star forward Jayson Tatum stated via NBC Sports Boston, “Just a lot to process. I haven’t talked to Udoka.” “It was unexpected, especially when you feel a certain way about last year as we approach this season. If I may be honest, you seem excited and are trying to accomplish a lot of these things. I suppose in addition to everyone else All-Star forward Jayson Tatum stated via NBC Sports Boston, “Just a lot to process. I haven’t talked to Udoka.” “It was unexpected, especially when you feel a certain way about last year as we approach this season. If I may be honest, you seem excited and are trying to accomplish a lot of these things. I suppose that everyone else is still trying to take everything in, even with the knowledge that practice is tomorrow.”
Guard Marcus Smart added: “The initial reaction was literally a state of shock. We couldn’t believe what we were hearing. … It’s hitting us from all angles, and we’re just trying to figure it out just like everybody else. Everybody was in attendance to the meeting. We wanted to know. They told us what they knew, and it took off from there.
Smart believes that the Celtics handled the situation “the right way,” as Udoka was suspended for the entire 2022-2023 season and an evaluation is currently going on to determine what to do after that.
“It’s frustrating from all ends of not knowing, not understanding, because you don’t know. You just try to focus on the things you can control and the things you know,” he said.
“From what we do know, the organization has handled it the right way, although we didn’t know as much of what we do now. We’re OK with that, but we would still like to know, like you said, because of the simple fact that it did happen so fast and everything that we started to build is starting over in a sense now.”
But the Celtics, who made it to the NBA Finals last season but lost to the Golden State Warriors, must move forward with their season under interim head coach Joe Mazzulla, an assistant coach under Udoka.
“He’s somebody that we all respect and that we’re going to be rallying behind him, and we’re going to really put in the time and the work to get this done,” veteran forward Al Horford said.
The suspension of Udoka came after a months-long investigation into the matter over the summer. Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens spoke at a press conference announcing the decision, saying an external law firm was used to conduct the investigation.
CELTICS’ SUSPENSION OF HEAD COACH IME UDOKA FOLLOWS ‘THOROUGH INVESTIGATION,’ TEAM OWNER SAYS
“We learned over the summer, some part of the summer, that there was a situation,” Grousbeck said. “Called in the law firm at that point, and the investigation had some twists and turns and took some time to develop all the facts.”
Udoka issued a statement of apology last Thursday evening.
“I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down,” Udoka said. “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.”
The Celtics’ first preseason matchup and Mazzulla’s head coaching debut will come this Sunday when they take on the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden in Boston.
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