Celtics Say Suspending Coach Ime Udoka Was a Matter of ‘Conscience’

BOSTON — Days before the start of training camp, the Celtics are reeling from an investigation, the suspension of their head coach and the sudden harsh public spotlight on several female employees who, the team said, were being treated unfairly.

But the team is saying little about how the situation got to this point or how it may ultimately be resolved.

On Friday, Wyc Grousbeck, the Celtics’ majority owner, and Brad Stevens, their president of basketball operations, spoke publicly for the first time since the team announced late Thursday that it had suspended Coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 season for unspecified “violations of team policies.”

A person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about it said Udoka had an inappropriate relationship with a female team employee. Grousbeck cited “privacy reasons” in declining to elaborate on the nature of Udoka’s misconduct.

The Celtics’ decision to suspend Udoka came after a monthslong investigation into his conduct by an independent law firm, Grousbeck said.

“It’s a time of concern and reflection and action,” he said. “We have strong values at the Celtics, and we are doing our best to uphold them here.”

Udoka, 45, coached the Celtics to the N.B.A. finals last season in his first year in the role. Joe Mazzulla, one of Udoka’s assistants, will be the team’s interim coach this season.

Grousbeck said he did not believe that the situation involving Udoka indicated a larger problem within the organization. He said Udoka was the only person who was punished or reprimanded, and that the Celtics would not name anyone else who might be involved.

“We go to great lengths — or appropriate lengths, at least — to run the organization with a core value of respect and freedom in the workplace from harassment or any unwelcome attention,” Grousbeck said, adding that he would talk to employees to see if the policy violations were more widespread than he thought.

Udoka’s suspension comes as the N.B.A. is grappling with workplace conduct in Phoenix. Last week, the league said an investigation had found a yearslong pattern of inappropriate behavior by Robert Sarver, the majority owner of the Suns and the W.N.B.A.’s Mercury. N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver fined Sarver $10 million and suspended him for a year. But amid backlash about the perceived leniency of the punishment, Sarver announced Wednesday that he planned to sell both teams.

Vague reports about Udoka’s situation emerged late Wednesday. Since then, many people on social media have posted the names and pictures of women who work for the Celtics, commenting about their bodies and other aspects of their appearances as they speculated whether the women had been involved with Udoka.

“We have a lot of talented women in our organization, and I thought yesterday was really hard on them,” Stevens said, adding: “I do think that we, as an organization, have a responsibility to make sure we’re there to support them now.”

Grousbeck said he was troubled that several team employees had been “dragged into the public eye unwillingly and inappropriately.”

On Friday, the Celtics team reporter, Amanda Pflugrad, wrote in a post on Twitter that the past few days had been “heartbreaking.”

“Seeing uninvolved people’s names thrown around in the media, including mine, with such carelessness is disgusting,” she said. “This is a step backwards for women in sports who have worked hard to prove themselves in an industry they deserve to be in.”

Team officials learned during the summer “that there was a situation,” Grousbeck said, which led them to retain a law firm to investigate Udoka’s conduct. The law firm relayed its findings to the team on Wednesday, Grousbeck said.

“The investigation had some twists and turns and took some time to develop all the facts,” he said.

Grousbeck consulted with a group of team officials and sought input from outside advisers before determining Udoka’s punishment, he said. Udoka’s suspension will be unpaid.

“This felt right, but there’s no clear guidelines for any of this,” Grousbeck said. “This is really conscience and gut feel.”

He added that a decision on Udoka’s long-term future had not been made.

Grousbeck acknowledged that the Celtics players were “concerned” about the situation — “It’s not a welcome development,” he said — though he said he expected them to come together and play hard this season.

Udoka has close relationships with many of the players. Stevens said it would be disingenuous to expect the start of training camp next week to be business as usual.

“I’m not going to ignore the fact that there are human emotions all over the place,” Stevens said.

The Celtics will enter the season as one of the N.B.A.’s most talented teams. Last season, they came within two games of winning their first championship since 2008. Since then, their core — led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — has remained largely intact.

But now, there are new challenges to navigate on the court: the unforeseen absence of Udoka, the jarring adjustment of playing for a new coach and preseason injury woes.

Danilo Gallinari, a veteran forward who signed with the Celtics this summer and figured to create space with his perimeter shooting, could miss the entire season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing for Italy’s national team last month. And Robert Williams, the team’s starting center, underwent arthroscopic surgery this week to remove loose bodies and address swelling in his left knee. The team said he could return to basketball activities in eight to 12 weeks.

Boston will hold its media day Monday before beginning training camp. The Celtics will open their season at home against the Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 18.