UPDATE - Boston Celtics suspend head coach Udoka for 2022-23 season

ADDS UDOKA'S APOLOGY MESSAGE, MINOR EDITS

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Boston Celtics have suspended head coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 season for “violations of team policies.”

“A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date. The suspension takes effect immediately,” the NBA franchise said in a statement.

While the club did not share any further details, NBA insider Shams Charania said the Nigerian coach was in a consensual intimate relationship with a woman in the organization.

Udoka started his coaching career in 2012 as an assistant on Gregg Popovich’s staff at San Antonio Spurs, where he won his first championship in 2014.

He joined the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019 and spent two seasons there and at the Brooklyn Nets before the Celtics handed him his first gig as head coach in 2021.

Udoka, 45, led Boston to the NBA finals last season, their first since 2010, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors.

- Udoka apologizes

Udoka released a statement expressing regrets and apologies. "I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down," he said in a statement released by ESPN’s Malika Andrews.

"I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team's decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment."