Marcus Smart and other members of the Boston Celtics were led to believe Ime Udoka would return as head coach following his one-year suspension.
“From what we know and were told, it was just a suspension. We didn’t know he was leaving to go coach somebody else,” Smart said. “We thought they just suspended him for the year and he’d be back. That’s why it’s confusing. We weren’t told too much about it.”
Udoka was suspended by the Celtics for multiple violations of team policies related to an intimate relationship with a female staff member in the organization in mid-September.
The Celtics elevated Joe Mazzulla to interim head coach in place of Udoka.
Udoka is now on the verge of being hired by the Brooklyn Nets.
Jaylen Brown said he played a role in initially bringing Udoka to Boston and was pleased to see him get another chance so quickly.
“It would’ve been awesome if we could’ve figured out a way for it to be with us, but I guess that wasn’t the case,” Brown said. “I’m just happy to see a Black head coach end up back on his feet because I’ve seen situations where something like this might not have been the case.”
Smart said asking questions to Celtics president Brad Stevens, his former head coach, wouldn’t help because no one can divulge much information.
“I don’t think you’ll ever get a straight answer about what’s really going on because there’s only so much they can say and that they know,” Smart said. “You can ask, but I don’t think it’s going to change anything, help anything. I think asking is just to express how you feel, whatever you feel, off your chest. But really that’s it. I don’t think it’ll change or affect any outcome. They made their decision.”
