BOSTON — Ime Udoka’s returned to Boston 478 days after his suspension and eventual firing from the Celtics drew far less fanfare than expected upon announcement. The Celtics moved on to a 29-9 start after their tumultuous first season without Udoka. The young Rockets rode ups-and-downs under Udoka, reunited with assistants Ben Sullivan, Mike Moser and Garrett Jackson on the way to 19-19. Both have bigger problems.
The Celtics organization didn’t acknowledge Udoka in any way during Boston’s 145-113 rout, his first appearance at TD Garden since his ousting from the franchise in September, 2022. Nearly three months to the day their NBA Finals run concluded in a loss to the Warriors. Udoka stressed that the team was just getting started, then his lone year as Celtics head coach shockingly came to an end.
While players expressed confusion and frustration over not receiving details about Udoka’s suspension in the days following the suspension, he acknowledged on Saturday that he revealed them to several Celtics.
“I would say they lied to you guys,” Udoka said. “They knew. Some of them knew. Obviously I could talk to them. They wouldn’t share stuff publicly. So, who needed to know knew.”
Udoka told CLNS Media before Saturday’s game that his biggest regret with the way his career in Boston ended was letting certain people down. That’s why he reached out to repair those relationships, then backed off to give his former players and coaching staff the space to take on the 2022-23 season he had almost fully prepared for alongside by building a plan based on the Finals loss. He sounded emboldened and rejuvenated, previously speaking about the work he did in his personal life while away from the game for one year, emphasizing that he clearly received his former coaches’ forgiveness by many of them joining him in Houston.
The Celtics and fans also clearly moved on too, with key players and family from that Finals run embracing before and after the game. Only scattered boos and some cheers followed his announcement at the end of Houston’s introductions and Udoka never appeared on the video screen during the game. Rap icon and Big 3 league founder Ice Cube received far more acknowledgement during the course of the blowout. Joe Mazzulla and players throughout the proceeding weeks, months and year expressing gratitude for how Udoka helped advance their careers.
“They’ve taken those steps and confidence and been there, done that,” Udoka told CLNS. “Going through that experience helps everybody across the board. Little things that I might’ve imparted some wisdom on them as far as that and just their growth in general, it’s a natural progression for those guys becoming the All-NBA guys they are. For the most part, they’re going to be perennial, year-to-year, and so happy for them. Not surprised by their growth or success, but it’s just a natural step for them, especially them being the leaders now, and some of the veterans that were here before them moving on. Things that I preached to them, I think they’ve taken those to heart and continued to grow and gotten better and better.”
Tatum declined to speak about his past interactions with his former head coach before the game, but acknowledged he spoke to him before the game. Payton Pritchard and fellow Portland native Udoka shared banter along the sideline during Tatum’s ejection. Udoka and his former players talked regularly during the summer, many of them spending time in Los Angeles as he did. They all attended Marcus Smart’s wedding, many of their most recent meetings prior to Saturday.
They’ll meet again in week. Udoka vowed a more competitive effort after the game plan he believed could slow Brown and Tatum proved difficult for his young, fatigued team to execute.
“It was definitely a weird process. We kind of knew what was going on, but then there was a time where we were hearing speculation that there was more to it,” Brown said. “It turned out there wasn’t anything else but what we already knew. Definitely a peculiar situation, but overall I’m just happy to see him back on his feet, back coaching on the sidelines where he belongs. I was happy it ended up working out for both parties.”
