BREAKING NEWS!! Joe’s Interim tagged ripped off and replaced with Head Coach.

Maybe I missed it but it doesn’t explain what’s next in regards to Udoka.


The Boston Celtics named Joe Mazzulla their permanent head coach, the team announced Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:

Mazzulla had been serving as interim head coach since Boston suspended Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 season in September.
Udoka’s suspension was a result of an intimate relationship with a female member of the organization, The Athletic reported.
Mazzulla has led Boston to a first-place 42-17 record in the Eastern Conference this season. He agreed to a contract extension with the Celtics along with the promotion; terms of the extension were not disclosed.
The 34-year-old is the 19th head coach in franchise history.
Backstory

Mazzulla stepped into the role this past fall after serving as an assistant coach for the Celtics since 2019. He was the only full-time assistant coach on Brad Stevens’ staff who remained during Udoka’s tenure, having also coached Boston’s NBA Summer League team in 2021. He was hired by Boston after serving as the coach at Fairmont State, a Division II school in West Virginia.

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Mazzulla’s interim appointment came on the heels of Udoka’s suspension which the franchise said was due to “violations of team policies.” At the time, Boston said, “a decision about (Udoka’s) future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date.”

“I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down,” Udoka said in a statement in September. “I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.”

Udoka, 45, was heading into his second season at the helm in Boston after taking over in June 2021 for Stevens, who became president of basketball operations. The Celtics went 51-31 in the regular season last year and made it to the NBA Finals, where they lost in six games to the Golden State Warriors. Udoka was previously an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets.

What they’re saying

“Joe is a very talented coach and leader,” Stevens said in a release Thursday. “He has a unique ability to galvanize a room around a mission. We are thankful for the work he has done to help get us to this point, and excited that he has agreed to lead us into the future.”

Congrats to Coach Joe and no doubt he's done a great job to this point. I really hope he can continue to guide us to banner 18. I worry about his in game decisions. His usage of time outs obviously and player usage. Can someone please explain to me what he was trying to do regarding Rob Williams's minutes verses the bucks? When asked, for the first time, I thought he was a little arrogant. I still don't know Rob's health, and this is more important than Coach Joe being permanent. I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts.

This from BR:

With the Boston Celtics announcing they have removed the interim tag and named Joe Mazzulla their full-time head coach going forward, Ime Udoka will be able to pursue new jobs.

Per Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix, Udoka is expected to be a "strong candidate" for teams seeking a new head coach during the offseason.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

A great coach, Ime deserves another chance.  I wish him nothing but the best.

A good move by the Celtics.

Good for the present team's immediate future and good for the future of both coaches involved.

I think the team has the right guy in place for the current roster, and Udoka will undoubtedly land another HC spot in short order.

Good for Coach Joe Mazzulla!!

This wouldn't have happened if there wasn't total buy-in from the ownership, the management, and the players.

I think this is good news for Joe, the Celtics and Ime.

Removing the interim tag provides stability for the team and for CJ. Players do not like to adjust to new coaches and coaching styles repeatedly. Malcolm Brogdon spoke about that when he was traded to us.

There are two things I like better about the way this team is playing than the Udoka team. First, the ball and player movement are better on offense. There is less isolation. Secondly, we are crashing the boardes on offense and having success by doing so. I read that Ime eschewed crashing the boards in favor of scampering back on defense. It appears that both can be done! Reactions to JM's coaching style reminded me of the debate we had on here about whether the Celtics " paid too much" for Derrick White. I trust that that one is put to bed. Here's a new acronym for Mazulla, JMOAFCC.Fans will continue to have their opinions about lineups, sub patterns, timeouts and injury management. It's something to ruminate on and discuss. Anyway, it is what it is and we will live with it. 42-17 ain't bad.

jrleftfoot wrote:There are two things I  like better about the way this team is playing than the Udoka team. First, the ball and player movement are better on offense. There is less isolation. Secondly, we are crashing the boardes on offense and having success by doing so. I read that Ime eschewed crashing the boards in favor of scampering back on defense. It appears that both can be done! Reactions to JM's coaching style reminded me of the debate we had on here about whether the Celtics " paid too much" for Derrick White. I trust that that one is put to bed. Here's a new acronym for Mazulla, JMOAFCC.Fans will continue to have their opinions about lineups, sub patterns, timeouts and injury management. It's something to ruminate on and discuss. Anyway, it is what it is and we will live with it. 42-17 ain't bad.

Okay. I give up. What’s the acronym mean? I got as far as Joe Mazzula. Did i at least get that part right?

I'll try the end part Ktron...Finally (as) Coach (of the) Celtics maybe?!! I'm lost on the "OA"

db

P.S. JMOAFCC not as digitally pleasing as SIASJ when holding down the CAPS LOCK button! That's just me, though. We'll pass final judgment when we find out the code from jrleftfoot!

After all these months, Joe must be relieved to finally get the top job. I'm glad for him.

Ktron, I love your DJ avatar. Sad that he passed too soon.

Celtics17 wrote:Congrats to Coach Joe and no doubt he's done a great job to this point. I really hope he can continue to guide us to banner 18. I worry about his in game decisions. His usage of time outs obviously and player usage. Can someone please explain to me what he was trying to do regarding Rob Williams's minutes verses the bucks? When asked, for the first time, I thought he was a little arrogant. I still don't know Rob's health, and this is more important than Coach Joe being permanent. I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts.

Celtics17

I listened to CJ's interview several times regarding his few words of explanation to the press on RWIII not starting, limited minutes, and coming off the bench against Milwaukee : "No Reason; No; It's what I made them" (I think that last is what he said, but he definitely meant it was HIS decision)

My take is he had his reason. CJ chose not to play RWIII the next night against Detroit also. I respect his reasoning, he doesn't like to tip his hand to opponents, yet he is always quick and precise when he answers questions from the media. I like his style in that, no BS, he makes his point factually without much/any elaboration.

The criticisms of timeouts is valid, yet he's been mostly successful with it, especially early in the season. He's a first year coach, he's learning, every coach makes mistakes, and the league's best record under his coaching speaks for itself.

Assuming that Udoka signed more than a 2 year contract with the Celtics the status change probably included a buyout of his contract.

Even though Udoka is now eligible to coach another team it does not completely wipe out whatever money was still remaining on his contract.

Overall, aside form the reputation hit that Ime must overcome, he probably will make out well on the financial end if he lands another coaching job. He is set up to get paid twice.

I'm sticking with just "Joe".  We didn't call him Coach Ime, nor Coach Brad before him, nor Coach Doc before him.

Nevertheless, congrats to our new, official head coach.


Bob


.

Joe it is!

Second hand news I received on this one but apparently the Celtics can cut Ime loose without continuing his contract. The clause he violated voids the contract for services. Without knowing, there could even be a golden parachute for early severance. It is common in all kinds of employment situations, including pro sports, but I doubt anyone involved would ever say. These are different than player contracts. Regardless, I think it’s a healthy break. There are positives here. Both coaches are removed from the typical revolving door of retreads. Both appear to have been a good fit for the roster and season in which they coach(ed). Maybe that decades long streak of Celtic bad luck is finally changing over to the good.

If the team could have cut Ime loose without continuing his contract for violating a clause, why didn’t they do it instead of suspending him?
That doesn’t sound very logical.
There’s legal issues here for sure but the fact that it’s not being discussed even now tells me that they couldn’t just terminate him then and they still haven’t stated that he’s terminated now.
He’s not coming back and he is not employed by the Celtics but I have yet to hear that he was terminated/bought out or….“whatever”. So what’s the story? This is precisely the reason that transparency has importance. Here we are guessing again. Let’s just move on never knowing the truth. 18 is the agenda. Who cares. Right?

bygone wrote:

Celtics17 wrote:Congrats to Coach Joe and no doubt he's done a great job to this point. I really hope he can continue to guide us to banner 18. I worry about his in game decisions. His usage of time outs obviously and player usage. Can someone please explain to me what he was trying to do regarding Rob Williams's minutes verses the bucks? When asked, for the first time, I thought he was a little arrogant. I still don't know Rob's health, and this is more important than Coach Joe being permanent. I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts.

Celtics17

I listened to CJ's interview several times regarding his few words of explanation to the press on RWIII not starting, limited minutes, and coming off the bench against Milwaukee : "No Reason; No; It's what I made them" (I think that last is what he said, but he definitely meant it was HIS decision)

My take is he had his reason. CJ chose not to play RWIII the next night against Detroit also. I respect his reasoning, he doesn't like to tip his hand to opponents, yet he is always quick and precise when he answers questions from the media. I like his style in that, no BS, he makes his point factually without much/any elaboration.

The criticisms of timeouts is valid, yet he's been mostly successful with it, especially early in the season. He's a first year coach, he's learning,  every coach makes mistakes, and the league's best record under his coaching speaks for itself.

bygone:

I with you. It just seemed out character for him. Usually Joe explains his moves. I am happy about the move and think he has the potential to be an outstanding head coach for many years.

NYCelt wrote:Second hand news I received on this one but apparently the Celtics can cut Ime loose without continuing his contract. The clause he violated voids the contract for services. Without knowing, there could even be a golden parachute for early severance. It is common in all kinds of employment situations, including pro sports, but I doubt anyone involved would ever say. These are different than player contracts. Regardless, I think it’s a healthy break. There are positives here. Both coaches are removed from the typical revolving door of retreads. Both appear to have been a good fit for the roster and season in which they coach(ed). Maybe that decades long streak of Celtic bad luck is finally changing over to the good.

We have not heard anything of substance about Ime.

The Celtics remain tight lipped about most everything involving him.  

In the NBA so-called severance is nothing more and nothing less than a buyout of the contract in situations when the contract has not expired.

The comments from Ime after the suspension are well documented.  He did not say much and indicated he would not say more about it.   He got paid a portion of his annual salary.     I have read that that amount was 50%.

I am assuming that Ime still had another year left on his contract.  I do not know the amount.  As everyone knows the Celtics do not disclose the salary of coaches.  

His contract is not public knowledge.  We do not know what it states.

What I do know is that any contract can become the subject of litigation.

The Celtics would want to avoid a court battle at all costs.  Remember the female (s) that the Celtics needed to protect?   A litigation would not only draw Celtics management into court but the other party (female) would be subpoenaed.

Ime held up his end of the bargain and the Celtics upheld their end.

Therefore logic dictates that with CJ being named head coach, the Celtics also settled Ime's contract.

I hope Ime gets a head coaching job in the West. He is a fine coach.

They might be able to cut Ime loose, depending on the circumstances, but unless they have incontrovertible proof of his actions, and that the actions violated a specific clause in his contract, they'd be in for a helluva legal fight. No doubt there has been a behind-the -scenes resolution, which we won't be privy to, and the terms of which we'll probably never learn. That's fine with me. I wish him luck , wherever he goes , except when we face off against his team. My guess is that he will be an assistant somewhere before he gets another NBA head coach gig. I'm abandoning my acronym because ktrons are catchier. Joe seems like the easist way to go, so I'm in.

Sometimes I may slip up and refer to him as Joey or Joseph or JoJo (I have a good friend whose cousin’s name is Joe Allen.) But he’s dead now so that’ll never work.
Somewhere down the line when Joe doesn't use his time…or if Joe pisses me off I may resort to one of the many acronyms authored by our prolific panel here but for now count me as being on board.  

Joe it tis!!!