Celtics players revealed at Boston’s media day on Monday that they don’t know much information about coach Ime Udoka’s suspension for the 2022-23 season.
“Initial reactions, we were all shocked what was going on, a little confused, but a lot of the information wasn’t being shared with us or members of the team, so you can’t really comment on it,” shooting guard Jaylen Brown said.
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When asked if he’s spoken with Udoka since the suspension, Brown said he has not.
Last Thursday, the Celtics organization announced it suspended Udoka for violations of team policies. The Athletic reported the punishment is a result of an intimate relationship with a female member of the organization.
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.
The team’s decision to suspend Udoka came after a closed-door meeting Thursday that involved team owners and president Brad Stevens and lasted several hours, sources said.
The players are still reeling from their coach being removed less than a week ago. Most of the team said they found out on Twitter, just like the rest of the public. Even when they met with the organization the following day, they were told very little. Guard Marcus Smart said the players didn’t even know what questions to ask, as the organization couldn’t reveal much due to privacy concerns.
“It happened in a time that we didn’t have any time to understand everything before media day,” Smart said. “We just found out like you guys did, so we’re doing our best to cope.”
There is this tricky balance the players and interim coach Joe Mazzulla must navigate, trying to validate a process by the organization they know little about, about a man they revere who has done something wrong. It’s clear they don’t know what to say, other than they are confused, but will have to move forward. They all voiced full support for Mazzulla, who they know well. But it’s clear before they can move forward, they still have to deal with Udoka being gone.
“Nobody died, so we didn’t lose anything. I still love Ime as a person and as a coach,” Smart said. “It’s just something unfortunate that has happened to him. It doesn’t take away anything from him as a coach, from how he turned this team around.”
(Photo: Rick Osentoski / USA Today)