ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Boston Celtics players didn't get over the departure of head coach Ime Udoka, who brought the team to the 2022 NBA Finals.
Woj tonight:
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) May 23, 2023
“This team, this locker room, they never got over Ime Udoka’s dismissal as head coach. These player did not accept the organization’s reason for doing it, they thought it was a wild over reaction.”#Celtics pic.twitter.com/pDyC9YXVNA
Udoka was hired by the Celtics coming into the 2021-22 NBA season. After a Finals appearance in his first year at the helm, he was suspended for the 2022-23 season in September 2022 for "violation of team policy," which was revealed to be an improper relationship with a female team staff.
He was officially dismissed as Celtics head coach when the team removed the interim tag on acting coach Joe Mazzulla in February 2023.
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Celtics Locker Did Not Accept Reason for Ime Udoka's Departure
Wojnarowski stated that the whole locker room believed the Celtics' decision on Udoka was a wild overreaction to the situation and that the team's HR personnel should've solved the issue.
The ESPN insider also said that the players got little information about the matter and were receiving almost the same facts as the general public.
Although it did not mean they had not accepted the successor, Mazzulla, the players believed in and strongly connected with Udoka during his time as the team's tactician.
There was also some angst in the locker room when the Brooklyn Nets nearly named Udoka as head coach and when the Houston Rockets officially did.
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