The Boston Celtics suspended Ime Udoka — who in his first season as head coach brought the Cs to their first NBA Finals appearance — for a multitude of reasons, some of which are already public knowledge.
The Athletic’s Fred Katz questions if the Brooklyn Nets looked into any of them at all before hiring Udoka on November 1, just a month and a half after his suspension on September 21 for conduct policy violations.
Udoka does have experience with the Nets as an assistant, having last worked as a Steve Nash assistant before being Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ first choice as a head coach in June 2021.
With that said, he now has an NBA rap sheet for inappropriate behavior toward several female employees, and Katz clowned the Nets for not doing its due diligence on their latest coaching hire in the wake of Nash’s departure from Brooklyn:
I'm sure the Nets have done their due diligence with a thorough and deep-diving investigation into Ime Udoka in the last five minutes.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) November 1, 2022
The Boston Celtics are better off without the shadow of Ime Udoka hovering over them
With Ime Udoka now the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla now avoids what would have been inevitable rumblings about the former making a return to the coaching staff at the conclusion of his suspension.
Anything less than a championship would have raised such uncomfortable questions, but now Mazzulla can breathe and develop the team at his own rate. Of course, championship expectations are still present, but they’re certainly not as pressing. Few Boston Celtics fans care about seeking a bigger coaching name, and many want the interim label removed as soon as possible.
Of course, that must be earned, but major media hot topic from an unrelenting Boston market has been removed from the ether — which makes the Udoka hiring a major win for the Cs and, if he can get the egos in Brooklyn’s locker room in check, a win for the Nets.