Ime Udoka, out. Brad Stevens, in?
At least a few Boston Celtics fans probably made that assumption when it was disclosed Thursday that Udoka would be suspended for the entire 2022-23 season due to his reported relationship with another member of the team staff. Without the head coach who had just guided them to the NBA Finals, the Celtics’ next best option was the guy in the building who led them to three Eastern Conference Finals and seven consecutive playoff berths, right?
“Absolutely not,” according to Stevens.
The former coach and current president of basketball operations was unequivocal when asked during a Friday news conference whether he considered taking on the role temporarily or if he’d step in if interim coach Joe Mazzulla struggles. If anybody was clamoring for him to get back on the bench, he shut down any conjecture.
“Joe’s the best choice to do that — by a long shot,” Stevens told reporters, as seen on a televised press conference. “So, as you go through this whole process, it all hits you, but I think we have the best people in place to do that, and Joe is the best person to do that in our organization.”
That sounds like a guy who has his mind made up — even if Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck sounded far less convinced the decision was final.
Either way, the Celtics didn’t have a lot of time to conduct a wide interview for replacements. Training camp begins next week and the team’s media day is Monday, so in-house options were almost a necessity. And oddsmakers haven’t budged on being bullish about the Celtics’ title hopes.
Mazzulla will get his chance, and he won’t have Stevens looking over his shoulder — not as far as Stevens himself is concerned, anyway.
