Awkwardness and chaos at Celtics Media Day over Udoka’s suspension

Celtics Media Day should be full of smiles. After we were only 2 wins away from winning the league a few months ago that would make sense. However, the punishment of Ime Udoka with a one-year ban for violating internal regulations changed the situation drastically.

In the shadow of the team coach’s punishment, the game faded into the background. The questions were now more about the atmosphere in the team, whether any player spoke to Udoka, what is now changing in the organization. The frostbite and the embarrassment had the first reason.

“We have to keep our identity. We had some problems last season but when we were at our best we knew what our identity was, which started with defending and good ball movement.” said Joe Mazzula – who bears the label of “caretaker manager” – trying to stay on the pitch. However, the discussion generally did not move on to the racing part.

“There is a lot going on. Some things we control and some we don’t” Jaylen Brown said when asked about Udoka’s case, adding: “The best we can do is move on. When I first found out what had happened, I was confused. No one has any information, so it’s difficult to comment on what should have been done in this case.”

For his part, Marcus Smart emphasized: “Literally nobody knows anything right now. We’re still waiting to find out, as is everyone else. As a player you want to know more, but that’s not our business. It’s her own life (ss from Udoka and those involved in the case). It’s about her and we have to respect her privacy.”

With the season starting in about 3 weeks it is clear that the Celtics are not starting the season in the conditions they would like. Odoka’s suspension and the injuries to Robert Williams and Danilo Gallinari made things difficult. It remains to be seen how they will react from now on.