TO UPDATE: According to Woj, Ime Udoka will be suspended by the Celtics for the ENTIRE 2022-2023 NBA season. He’s pretty crazy, if the only charge is a consensual relationship, even extramarital, with a staff member. Let’s wait for the details, if any, but the penalty seems extremely strong, even if it satisfies the most puritanical of Boston fans…
Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka is likely to face a suspension for the entire 2022-2023 season for his role in a consensual relationship with a female staff member, sources have told ESPN. A formal announcement is expected as early as today.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 22, 2022
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07:04: The mystery hung over what he had done i’m udoka for the Boston Celtics to decide to sanction him. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the coach is at risk of being suspended from the bench for violating franchise rules. We had to wait a bit for Shams Charania from The Athletic to come and enlighten us.
Ime Udoka was reportedly in an “intimate, inappropriate and consensual” relationship with a member of the Celtics’ staff. Celtics employees, particularly players, coaches and staff members, are strictly prohibited from having affairs with each other. Udoka was, last he knew, still in a relationship with actress Nia Long, to whom he has been engaged for ten years.
The position of Udoka, who was able to lead Boston to the NBA Finals in his first season on the bench, is not threatened, but the way the board seems to want to act shows that it is not. Woj even mentions a suspension of up to the entire 2022-2023 season…
With Will Hardy leaving to coach the Utah Jazz, Joe Mazzulla should take over for the duration of Ime Udoka’s suspension if confirmed.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka had an inappropriate consensual and intimate relationship with a member of the team’s staff, sources say. @ElAthletic @Stadium. It has been considered a violation of the franchise’s code of conduct.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 22, 2022