Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka faces disciplinary action, which is expected to include a significant suspension for his role in consensual intimate relationships with women on franchise staff, sources said. told ESPN Wednesday night.
The relationship has been deemed to violate organizational guidelines and a decision on the length of the suspension is expected to be made on Thursday. included a scenario to keep Udoka out for the entire 2022-23 season, sources said.
Udoka’s job is not believed to be in jeopardy, sources said.
Udoka’s top assistant coach, Will Hardy, has left to become the Utah Jazz coach, and another Jazz finalist, Celtics assistant Joe Mazura, is seriously considering an interim role. It’s likely, a source told ESPN.
Udoka joined the Celtics last summer after a career in the NBA where he was an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets.
Udoka replaced Brad Stevens as coach. Stevens moved upstairs to become Boston’s president of basketball operations after his predecessor, Danny Ainge, chose to leave the organization.
In his first season as a coach, Udoka oversaw a remarkable turnaround in Boston, going 28-7 in his final 35 games from a sub-.500 batting average in late January. I saw it close out the season. They then made it through the Eastern he conference playoffs with a bang, reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years.
Udoka is the fifth coach in the past 25 years to reach the NBA Finals in his first season as a head coach, and the first since Nick Nurse in 2019.
He also became the first rookie coach to win multiple Game 7 titles in his first postseason, according to an ESPN Stats & Information survey. Udoka took Boston to the Eastern He went to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Conference Semifinals and the East to Miami in the Finals. Lost to the Warriors.
ESPN NBA writer Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.
