Arguably the biggest story of the NBA offseason dropped last week when it was revealed that Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka cheated on actress Nia Long with a female Celtics employee.
Although Udoka’s relationship with the employee was initially believed to be consensual, NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Udoka was recently accused of making unwanted comments toward the staff member.
Udoka has been suspended for the entire 2022-23 season, and his future with the Celtics beyond that is very much in doubt.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 23, 2022
Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young knows a thing or two about being involved in controversy.
During Young’s time with the Lakers, fellow guard D’Angelo Russell recorded Young saying that he cheated on his then-fiancée Iggy Azalea. Azalea broke off her engagement to Young after the video surfaced.
Young recently weighed in on the Udoka situation, and his thoughts may cause some fans to believe that he hasn’t changed much.
“It don’t matter about the woman — I think men just get bored sometimes, and things happen when you get bored,” Young said.
It will be very interesting to see if Udoka coaches another NBA game. It seems like there’s a lot of information about the controversy that hasn’t been made public yet, and it’s unclear if those details will ever surface.
The Celtics are moving forward with Joe Mazzulla as their interim coach in the 2022-23 season, and he’ll look to help the team recapture the magic it had during the 2021-22 campaign.
Boston made the NBA Finals last season after an impressive postseason run. The team eliminated the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat in the first three rounds before losing to the Golden State Warriors in six games in the final series.
The Celtics got off to a poor start last season, but they were able to completely turn things around with Udoka’s help. The squad had a record of 18-21 at one point but finished the regular season with a 51-31 mark.
Boston is talented enough to have another successful season in the 2022-23 campaign, but the team is going to have to adjust under Mazzulla. Young stars like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will look to help the Celtics get over the hump and win it all this season.
