Boston Celtics suspend head coach Ime Udoka for entire 2022-23 season

Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has been suspended for the entire 2022-23 season, the team announced Thursday. The suspension is the result of “violations of team policies,” the Celtics said in a statement.

The suspension takes effect immediately and “a decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date,” the team said.

The Celtics have not publicly disclosed what policies Udoka violated.

On Wednesday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Udoka had “an improper intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the team staff.”

Celtics head coach Ime Udoka.

Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Boston Celtics will enter the 2022-23 season as the defending Eastern Conference champions. They lost in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors four games to two last season.

Assistant coach Joe Mazzulla will take over head coaching duties this season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Before becoming the Celtics’ head coach in 2021, Udoka spent seven seasons as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs from 2012 to 2019. He spent one year as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019, followed by another one-season run as an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets.