Ime Udoka has made his first public appearance since being suspended from and ultimately departing the Boston Celtics.
Unsurprisingly, it came in a pivotal NBA matchup where playoff implications were on the line. Udoka was seen in the stands at Crypto.com Arena, where the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers matched up Wednesday night — jockeying for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.
You can see Udoka at the game below, courtesy of fan video provided by ClutchPoints:
Udoka, who led the Celtics to an NBA Finals appearance in his first season at the helm in 2022, was suspended back in September for the 2022-23 season due to violations of team policies. The violations reportedly stemmed from the 45-year-old having an improper relationship with a Celtics female staffer while making “unwanted” comments and using “crude” language toward said staffer.
Boston eventually moved on from Udoka, electing to hire Joe Mazzulla as its full-time head coach in February.
There hasn’t been much out there on Udoka since. The Atlanta Hawks reportedly flirted with the idea of bringing him in to fill their coaching vacancy after firing Nate McMillan. Much like the Brooklyn Nets, however, Atlanta elected to go in another direction.
There has been support for Udoka’s eventual return to the NBA, as Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each have shared positive words for their former head coach. Gregg Popovich, who Udoka played and coached under with the San Antonio Spurs, also voiced his support for the former Boston bench boss.
Could Udoka’s presence at such a marquee event on the NBA schedule signal a potential return to the sport? Only time will tell.
