The Boston Celtics may suspend head coach Ime Udoka for a prolonged period of time following reports of a consensual intimate relationship with a female staffer. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Udoka could be suspended for the entire 2022-23 season, and current Celtics assistant Joe Mazzulla is a front-runner to step in as interim head coach.
Mazzulla is just 34 years old, two years younger than veteran big man Al Horford. Still, he’s been with the club since 2019 and has some organizational clout with the front office and with the locker room. This past season he often filled in for Udoka for certain interviews and other media obligations.
So who is Joe Mazzulla? Here’s what Celtics fans need to know.
Year-long suspension looms large as a real possibility for Ime Udoka following reports of a consensual relationship with female staffer. https://t.co/C1SUTR11cB
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 22, 2022
Joe Mazzulla is a native of Johnston, Rhode Island, and played in Warwick for a Bishop Hendricken High School team that won three state titles in four years. Mazzulla played college ball at West Virginia and served as the team’s captain during their 2010 Final Four run.
In 2011 Mazzulla joined the Glenville State basketball program in West Virginia before taking a job down the road at Fairmont State as an assistant coach in 2013.
Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka could be facing disciplinary action – including a possible suspension – according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. https://t.co/VTXLFL2hFa
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 22, 2022
Mazzulla left college ball and served as an assistant coach to the Maine Celtics for the 2016-17 season (then still known as the Red Claws). He returned to Fairmont as the head coach the following season, winning an impressive 71.7% of his games in his two-year stint there.
In 2019, Mazzulla became an assistant coach to then-head coach Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics. He’s been with the organization ever since, serving as the lead coach during the 2021 Summer League. The former guard may now have a chance to prove his head coaching chops at the professional level.
Ime Udoka could be suspended for “entirety” of ’22-23 season following news of an intimate relationship with female staff member. https://t.co/GQN6s9zYhv
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 22, 2022
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