The Boston Celtics were headed into the 2022-23 NBA regular season as the favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals months after being just two games away from the organization’s first championship since 2008.
The additions of Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari during the offseason added much-needed depth, and in another season under head coach Ime Udoka, the Celtics figured to be even better defensively.
Then, the nightmare began for the Celtics.
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Gallinari suffered a torn ACL, starting center Robert Williams underwent knee surgery and Udoka was suspended for the entirety of the season for “violations of team policies.” Udoka reportedly had a consensual relationship with a female staffer within the Celtics organization.
It has been a strange situation in Boston, as the details regarding Udoka’s suspension have not been clear, even to the players, who have not been allowed to speak with Udoka during the suspension.
“It really doesn’t matter what we say [to the front office],” Marcus Smart told The Boston Globe. “We can voice our opinion, but I’m sure it’s going to be, ‘Yeah, we hear you.’ And that’s it.
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“I’m sure they know how certain people feel. But it is tough, because there’s only so much that they can say. It’s a tough spot for everybody. It just sucks all around.”
Assistant coach Joe Mazzulla was named the interim head coach while Udoka serves out his suspension. The thought was that Udoka would return to the Celtics next season, but that no longer is looking like a possibility.
On Tuesday, the Brooklyn Nets fired head coach Steve Nash just seven games into the regular season, and Udoka was quickly rumored to be next in line.
The Celtics reportedly allowed Brooklyn to speak with their suspended head coach and will let him “leave freely.”
“His name got slandered and slaughtered, and it was ‘He’ll probably never coach again,’” Smart said. “And a couple of months later, now he’s possibly going to be the coach of one of our biggest rivals?
“It’s tough. It makes no sense. But we can’t control that. We have to control what we can, and I love the team here. I love the coaching staff. I love Joe.”
Smart made sure to say that the roster is fully supportive of Mazulla, even as the team expresses disappointment that Udoka will no longer be the head coach moving forward.
“You can have more than one best friend,” Smart told The Globe. “That’s just kind of the relationship it is. We love Joe. We also love Ime, too. Joe understands that, and Joe loves him. But we’re definitely excited for Joe and proud of Joe and it’s not fair to Joe to have to keep hearing this either and go through what he’s going through.”
Boston is 4-3 on the season with a matchup against the Chicago Bulls Friday night.
