Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
Ime Udoka will not coach the Boston Celtics, the team he guided to the 2022 NBA Finals, for the next calendar year following a monthslong investigation by his team into a relationship he had with a female member of staff.
Late last week, the Celtics shared the news in a brief statement that Udoka was being disciplined “for violations of team policies. A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date. The suspension takes effect immediately.”
Friday, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck and team president Brad Stevens gave a press conference during which Grousbeck criticized the media for attempting to discover the identity of the female staffer but ultimately said the move to suspend Udoka was the only choice they had.
“I am concerned about the situation and its impact on everybody in the Celtics’ organization,” Grousbeck said. “I do hope this represents the beginning of a new chapter, and a chance to turn the page and move forward with things, to some extent, resolved.”
The details of the events that led up to Udoka’s suspension remain murky. As reported by TMZ, it appears he engaged in a consensual, intimate relationship with a subordinate who was at least partially responsible for booking Udoka’s travel and that of his longtime fiance, actress Nia Long.
He’s also accused of having made unwanted comments toward the staffer.
Udoka and Long have been together in some form or fashion for more than a decade – they’ve been engaged since 2015 – but have never made the last step in becoming married.
The Celtics owner refused to confirm or deny the reports, citing privacy concerns for the victim and others involved in the in-house controversy. Grousbeck also avoided explaining the rationale behind the lengthy suspension.
“We’re not going to get into our deliberations,” Grousbeck said. “This felt right, but there’s no clear guidelines for any of this. It’s conscience and gut feel. We collectively came to this and got there but it was not clear what to do but it was clear something substantial needed to be done, and it was.”
Grousbeck did, however, reveal that players were “very concerned about” the situation, although it is unclear if this means the players were concerned that a woman had been taken advantage of by a superior or that they were concerned with what Udoka’s suspension means for their prospects in the new NBA season.
Stevens certainly spoke as though it was the latter, but in all likelihood it is a combination of the two.
“To think that guys on the team or coaches or anybody else in the organization is going to walk back on the court and everything is fine, that’s just not the way it is,” Stevens said. “This is a really, really tough situation, but we’re going to be forward-focused with addressing everything we need to address to get everybody ready to go on Tuesday when we start a new season, and I believe we will be, but I’m not going to ignore the fact there are human emotions involved.”
Joe Mazzulla, a 34-year-old who until recently was an assistant under Udoka, has been named the interim coach.