Players on the Celtics “never got over” a player being fired due to an affair.
The Celtics are facing elimination from the Eastern Conference finals against the Heat, and Ime Udoka’s alleged affair is still weighing heavily on the team.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics players feel like they were kept in the dark about the organization’s decision to fire their head coach after an alleged affair with a female member of the team.
Prior to Denver sweeping the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, he stated during Monday’s pre-game show, “This locker room never got over Ime Udoka’s dismissal as head coach.
These athletes disagreed with the organization’s justification for taking such action. They believed it to be an extreme overreaction. Many others on the outside believed it to be an exaggerated response. that the issue was with HR.
In my opinion, the team and management never received more information on this matter than what the general public was receiving. This is a team that genuinely felt in Ime Udoka and had a close relationship with him, which is not to say they haven’t accepted Joe Mazzulla as head coach.
Entering his second season as head coach, Udoka had led Boston to the NBA Finals in 2022 before the team lost in six games to the Warriors. At the time, he was in a 13-year relationship with actress Nia Long.
“I believe there were a few moments this season where a lot of that anxiety came back,” Wojnarowski stated. “First, when the Rockets hired Udoka as head coach, and then when the Brooklyn Nets almost did. Those undoubtedly played a role.
in response to reports of a possible trade with the Nets.
Members of the NBA league office concluded that “there was nothing that they found to be disqualifying to work again in the NBA,” according to a previous report from Wojnarowski.
After an external law firm’s months-long investigation, which revealed numerous infractions of “team policies,” including allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a female team employee, Udoka was suspended in September 2022.
The Celtics exposed the matter when they announced Udoka’s as a result of the investigation.
For privacy concerns, Wyc Grousbeck, the majority owner of the Celtics, and Brad Stevens, the team president of basketball operations, did not disclose any additional information about the circumstance.
In a statement that ESPN’s Malika Andrews posted on Twitter at the time, Udoka expressed his regret for “letting them down” to the Celtics players, the team, the supporters, and his family.
Udoka and Long separated soon after the rumored affair was made public, though they are still co-parenting their 11-year-old son, Kez.
As an assistant coach at the time, Mazzulla was named interim head coach by Boston. In February, when the Celtics were dominating the East and holding the top seed, he removed the tag and was promoted to head coach.
In Game 4 on Tuesday night, the Celtics, trailing 3-0, will now try to salvage their season on Miami’s court.
After Game 3, the team lost handily, 128-102, and Mazzulla acknowledged that there was a gulf between him and the locker room.
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