ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday night the Boston Celtics plan to suspend head coach Ime Udoka for partaking in a consensual sexual relationship with a female staff member.
On Thursday morning, Wojnarowski followed up with news of a potentially lengthy ban.
According to the NBA insider, Udoka is expected to get suspended for the entire 2022-23 season. The team could make an official announcement later in the day.
After spending nearly a decade as an assistant coach for three NBA teams, Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first year as head coach. Under his watch, Boston swept the Brooklyn Nets in the first round, eliminated the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, and knocked out the Miami Heat in a seven-game Eastern Conference Finals.
Wojnarowski said Udoka is unlikely to lose his job, and assistant Joe Mazzulla is a leading candidate to replace him as the interim head coach.
The reported eye-opening punishment is notably the same suspension the NBA issued Robert Sarver for creating a toxic workplace by using racist language and making inappropriate sexual remarks toward women. After a swift backlash, he announced that’s he beginning the process of selling the Phoenix Suns and Mercury.
The details are currently vague about the intimate relationship leading to Udoka’s suspension.