Coming off an unbelievable 2021-2022 season, the Boston Celtics are the favorites to win the NBA championship this season. However, a promising season just got complicated with lots of drama and controversy. It isn’t Boston sports though without a little drama and controversy. 

A report from ESPN Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski came out late Wednesday night, reporting that head coach Ime Udoka violated organizational guidelines, and could face disciplinary action, and a significant suspension.

The report was corroborated by Senior Lead NBA Insider Shams Charania of The Athletic. Charania added onto the report, claiming that Udoka had an “improper intimate and consensual relationship” with a female staff member. 

On Thursday morning Wojnarowski reported that Udoka would likely face a suspension for the entire 2022-2023 season. A move that would see assistant coach Joe Mazzulla likely becoming the Celtics interim head coach for the season, and even the possibility of Udoka resigning. The Celtics have since officially released a statement regarding the situation, confirming he will be suspended for the entirety of the upcoming season. 

This only adds fuel to the fire that has been a horrific September for the Celtics. As they have already two players landed on the injury list. Newly signed forward Danilo Gallinari suffered an injury representing his country of Italy in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers. It was first reported that Gallinari suffered a meniscus tear. A few days later it was confirmed that Gallinari tore his ACL in his left knee, the same knee he tore in 2013.

You can add center Rob Williams to the injury list as well. Williams is expected to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and will miss training camp, and potentially the start of the season. Williams’ injury is deemed short term, rather than long term like Gallinari. Williams tore his meniscus in March last season, making him miss the rest of the season. He would later return in Game 3 of the first round against the Brooklyn Nets. These two injuries leave the Celtics thin at center, also lacking a shooter off the bench.

In addition to these injuries, and their head coach being suspended the Celtics had an offseason filled with rumors. An offseason of rumors of discussing where star forward Kevin Durant might go. It led to numerous reports of the Celtics being in on Durant. With the offer being presented to the Nets centered around guards Jaylen Brown and Derrick White and picks. The Nets declined the offer and wanted more. This led to a series of tweets of Brown liking and retweeting about being underappreciated by the fans. 

On paper the Celtics still have a good team to challenge for the title. They have two star players in forwards Jayson Tatum and Brown, and a good supporting cast around the two. The question is will injuries, and whether or not the Udoka drama will make this team take a step back from what they accomplished last season. Was last year too good to be true?

Editor’s Note: Since publication, the Celtics have since held a press conference to address the situation.