‘Job not finished’: Udoka reflects on Celtics exit

BOSTON — Ime Udoka said before coaching his first game in Boston since being suspended for the 2022-23 season for multiple violations of team rules, and ultimately being removed as the Celtics‘ coach, that he never completed the job he was hired to do.

“Job not finished,” Udoka said when asked how he looks back on that season before leading the Houston Rockets against Boston at TD Garden on Saturday night. “The relationships you build, and the people you impact. So that’d be the biggest thing [I think about].

“[I] formed a lot of relationships within a year, and obviously want to get a chance to run it back with a group you feel you can build and grow with. So, letting the people down. I talked about the players, the relationships I built with them, the coaches that came with me, and then everybody else that was impacted by it.

“So for me that’s the biggest thing I would say overall is letting some people down, for sure. But we’ve talked it out and I’ve seen a lot of these people throughout the summer and talk regularly and so we move past it.”

When Udoka was introduced before Saturday’s game, he received a light mix of boos and cheers from the TD Garden crowd.

Udoka led a remarkable turnaround during his lone season with the franchise, one that saw Boston begin the 2021-22 season with a 23-24 record through late January before ripping off a 28-7 stretch to end the regular season. The Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010 with series victories over the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat.

The last game Udoka coached for the franchise was in this building, when Boston lost Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry & Co. celebrated their fourth championship. But rather than the beginning of a long run together, Udoka was suspended for the 2022-23 season. He was officially replaced by Joe Mazzulla — who had been elevated to interim coach after working on Udoka’s staff the prior season — on a permanent basis in February 2023.

Both coaches, however, tried to downplay the significance of the occasion.

“Obviously, the fact that Ime is back, that’s great,” Mazzulla said. “We worked together, and guys on the staff, but I don’t think that really has anything to do with winning or losing.”

“I spent a good year and had some success,” Udoka said. “But I just saw a few people that you’re reminded of, everyone on the ramp when you walk in. So, it was a little bit different, as far as that.

“We had a good year [here], not great year, [because we] didn’t get it done. But yeah, I would say just seeing some people I haven’t seen in a while … then, once it’s done, it’s done. A first time for everything. We’ve been through it and are ready to move on.”

Udoka and his former players have been open that they’ve maintained their relationships since his firing. At the time, players expressed confusion about what had happened with Udoka and that they had been left in the dark. Asked about that Saturday, Udoka said that wasn’t the case.

“I would say they lied to you guys,” Udoka said with a slight smile. “They knew. Some of them knew and, you know, obviously I could talk to them and they wouldn’t share stuff publicly.

“So, who needed to know, knew.”

Over the summer, Udoka attended former Celtic Marcus Smart‘s wedding — one that was also attended by several players, Mazzulla, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and ownership. Udoka said he continues to check in on the Celtics, but he does the same thing with players from the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Nets — his other coaching stops as an assistant.

“It’s the relationships that have been built, and they’re going to be long lasting,” Udoka said. “So we all check on each other. It’s no different than LaMarcus Aldridge or Joel Embiid or guys that I’ve coached that I’ve gotten really close with.

“From that standpoint, if they do something crazy or I do something crazy, they reach out. In general, I think being in L.A. in the summers, we all run into each other quite a bit and talk regularly. I wouldn’t say it’s any different than anybody else, other than the fact that we had a lot of success in a short period and really formed great relationships.”

After sitting out last season, Udoka was hired to coach the Rockets in April. A team that had lost more games than any other NBA franchise across the prior three seasons combined, he said there are things in this Rockets team that reminds him of the Celtics. The Rockets entered Saturday’s game 19-18 — after winning 17, 20 and 22 games, respectively, over the past three seasons.

“Yeah, I mean, there are a lot of parallels,” Udoka said. “Age gap is the biggest thing. But habits are habits. Winning mentalities. It’s the same thing you want to change, those mentalities. I got to lean on what happened here in Boston for our Houston guys. Just like I said, two, three, years younger with a little less success. [They had] been to the Eastern Conference Finals here quite a bit. But very similar. A lot of parallels as far as that.”