The Boston Celtics are on the verge of suspending head coach Ime Udoka for violation of an unspecified team rule. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was the first to report the news, reporting that this doesn't rise to the level of a fireable offense, but the punishment could be significant. An announcement is expected in the morning.
As of right now, the violation hasn't been revealed.
Karalis' take:
Without any details coming out as of now, it's impossible to speculate as to what the nature of this is and what the appropriate punishment should be. That will have to come another day.
For now, though, what the Celtics have here as an organization is a true test of the team's culture of accountability. The team turned things around last year, in part, because Udoka was willing to hold his stars accountable. They pushed for a coach who would coach them hard and they responded when he did. Now it's Udoka who has made a mistake that rises to the level of being disciplined.
How will the players react to this news? Will they still have faith in him as a coach? Will they still have faith in the team as a whole?
And how will this impact their ability to perform on the court? They're entering a critically important season, fresh off a Finals run and with the rest of the East around them loading up to knock them off their perch as the favorites. This is an important preseason where there was hope for a distraction-free environment. Then Danilo Gallinari tore his ACL, Robert Williams needed surgery on his knee, and this. With such an emphasis on starting strong this season, the team now faces a significant setback on the implementation of new wrinkles, including the integration of Malcolm Brogdon.
Finally, this is simply disappointing. Whatever it is, it's being characterized within the team as serious. And while it's not a league matter, it's the team's second-year head coach, a guy who earned an extraordinary amount of respect through his first season, suddenly facing a stern punishment. We'll have to wait to see if the punishment fits whatever the offense was, but of all the things that could throw the early part of this season into some turmoil, this is pretty close to the top.