Is Joe Mazzulla Worried About Ime Udoka Poaching Celtics Assistants?

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics already lost one assistant coach during the season when Damon Stoudamire took the head coaching job at Georgia Tech.

And with Ime Udoka back in the NBA after reportedly taking the head coaching job with the Rockets and needing to assemble a coaching staff, could more assistants on Joe Mazzulla’s staff leave Boston and team up with the person they coached under last season?

It certainly will be a test of loyalty on both sides, but Mazzulla is trying his best to create the best atmosphere possible within the Celtics to make assistants want to stay in Boston.

“I just want our guys to be in a position to feel like they’re growing as a person and growing as a coach,” Mazzulla said prior to the Celtics taking on the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday. “So, we try to make that environment here with the Celtics and I want people to know that work here that they’re valued and because of them, we have an opportunity to be a really good organization.

“So, if you feel that, that’s great. I always want guys to feel like they can grow as people, or players or whoever that may be. I think that’s the most important thing to express to a staff and an organization.”

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There are plenty of holdovers from Udoka’s one season with the Celtics that could possibly move on if Udoka comes calling. Ben Sullivan, a top assistant under Mazzulla, Aaron Miles, DJ MacLeay and special assistant Matt Reynolds all joined the Celtics when Udoka was named head coach in June of 2021.

The Celtics also might be preparing for another exit or two as they seemed to be courting a former NBA head coach ahead of their playoff matchup with the Hawks.

Whether Udoka will try to poach some of his former assistants from the Celtics obviously remains to be seen, but it could create quite an interesting wrinkle with Udoka back at the helm of an NBA team.