Boston Celtics: 3 questions in the wake of the Ime Udoka suspension

The Boston Celtics have shocked the rest of the NBA by suspending their own head coach Ime Udoka for the entire 2022-23 season.

Udoka was found to have broken the Celtics organizational code of conduct by having an intimate relationship with a female employee of the C’s, and was promptly suspended after a month-long investigation.

The news has caught the entire league off guard, and chances are the official suspension for Udoka isn’t the last we will hear of this matter. Lost in the madness is the fact that the Celtics will be opening training camp next Tuesday. There’s a lot that this team needs to digest in a short span of time, so let’s run through three questions that will need to answered by the Celtics throughout the upcoming season.

Boston Celtics question No. 3: Will the players be able to handle a sudden coaching change?

Losing Udoka’s presence on the bench for the C’s obviously hurts, but Boston’s saving grace is that they still boast one of the best rosters in the entire league. They didn’t lose any key pieces of their rotation this offseason, and added Malcolm Brogdon (and maybe Danilo Gallinari) during the offseason to make them one of the deepest teams in the league .

But it’s clear Udoka played a big role in Boston’s unexpected run to the Finals last season. It took some time, but the team bought into his system in a way that the guy he replaced, Brad Stevens, couldn’t ever seem to figure out. The players clearly enjoyed having Udoka lead their team, and losing him is going to be a potentially devastating blow for them.

After finally becoming comfortable with a coach, they will have to switch gears completely just before the start of the season. Will the players be receptive to this change, and will they be able to handle to attention that has come with Udoka’s sudden suspension? It will certainly be a challenge, and we will find out a lot of these answers early on in the season.