May 23, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) talks with head coach Ime Udoka in the first half against the Miami Heat during game four of the 2022 eastern conference finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka led his team to the NBA Finals in his first season but now faces serious discipline entering the 2022-23 campaign.
It’s hard to imagine a better first year as a head coach than what Ime Udoka experienced with the Boston Celtics. After nearly a decade as an assistant around the league, most recently with the Brooklyn Nets, he took the helm of the proud franchise and had his team in the NBA Finals on the cusp of winning a championship.
But after falling short of the Larry O’Brien Trophy, Udoka’s second season hasn’t even started and he’s already facing some serious hardships, perhaps by his own doing.
According to a report on Wednesday night from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Udoka is facing discipline “for an unspecified violation of organizational guidelines” that could result in what Woj initially called a “significant suspension” for the head coach.
Celtics: Ime Udoka facing season-long suspension
Details have emerged overnight over what led to the discipline. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Celtics head coach had an “improper intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the team staff.”
On Thursday morning, Wojnarowski followed up on the potential details of the suspension and said it’s believed that Udoka could be suspended for the entirety of the 2022-23 season. He added that an announcement from the team and/or NBA could come as soon as Thursday.
It was a bit of a whirlwind offseason in Boston as they were at the center of several Kevin Durant trade rumors but ultimately ended up staying the course with the core of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the charge for the franchise.
With that said, Udoka acquitted himself more than admirably in his first season as the team’s head coach and made key adjustments throughout the regular season and postseason to get the team to the NBA Finals. Losing him for any substantial amount of time would be a true blow to the Celtics.