Marcus Smart of Boston remarks, “We wish he was here,” regarding the possibility the Celtics

Marcus Smart of Boston remarks, “We wish he was here,” regarding the possibility the Celtics

You would assume that Ime Udoka’s lack of accountability, which resulted in his season-long ban for the team’s 2022–23 campaign, would make the Boston Celtics feel betrayed by their head coach after his performance the previous season.

If you did, though, you would be incorrect about a few players on Boston’s roster. After Steve Nash was fired, a number of these players told the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach how they felt about Udoka potentially joining the Brooklyn Nets franchise, which is being run by interim head coach Joe Mazzulla.

Naturally, we wish he was present, said Marcus Smart, a seasoned guard with the Celtics. “We are powerless to stop that.”

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The native of Flower Mound continued, still appearing unaware of the specifics of the alleged inappropriate relationship with a staff member and the offensive remarks that followed, which resulted in Udoka’s suspension this offseason. “It definitely sucks,” she said.

“I suppose it was decided that whatever occurred was sufficient reason for him to not be the coach here, but clearly not sufficient reason for him (not) to be a coach anywhere else.”

“His name got slandered and slaughtered and it was ‘He’ll probably never coach again’,” protested Smart, who took issue with his former head coach perhaps helming one of the team’s biggest rivals in the Nets.

A similar sentiment was to be heard from Jaylen Brown, who suggested it’d have been “awesome” had Udoka been able to return to the team after the season.

“I’m just happy to see a Black head coach end up back on his feet,” he explained. “because I’ve seen situations where something like this might not have been the case.”