Danny Ainge Shades Ime Udoka, Suggests Celtics Think Joe Mazzulla Is Better HC

Danny Ainge is now an executive for the Utah Jazz, but he spent years as president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, helping construct what is now one of the best teams in the NBA.

Ainge's draft picks of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart have powered the Celtics to three Eastern Conference Finals appearances in the last four seasons, including a berth in the 2022 NBA Finals.

However, the C's haven't been able to get over the hump to take home their first title since 2008, and the team's ugly loss against the Miami Heat in this season's Eastern Conference Finals has led to head coach Joe Mazzulla catching some heavy criticism from both the media and Green Teamers alike.

Ainge, who hired Mazzulla as an assistant for Boston's G League team in 2016, is a big fan of the first-year head coach, who was also a finalist for the Jazz's head coaching vacancy last year before former Celtics assistant Will Hardy was hired.

Speaking with Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe both when the Celtics were down 3-0 to Miami in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals and after their Game 7 loss, Ainge threw some shade toward former C's head coach Ime Udoka while also suggesting that the franchise likes Mazzulla better.

Ainge said:

"This team found joy. They were inconsistent, but they were rooting for each other. They were all defending Joe in the media. You see Joe's toughness and stubbornness. He's a relentless worker. He has a passion to learn. Joe is a leader, and I think this was a difficult situation with the high expectations the team had coming in. I don't think there's anybody there that doesn't believe that Joe is better than Ime [Udoka] as a coach."

Udoka was hired as head coach of the Celtics ahead of the 2021-22 season, and he led the team all the way to the 2022 NBA Finals, where Boston fell to the Golden State Warriors in six games.

The 45-year-old was set to return as head coach of the Celtics in 2022-23, but he was suspended for the entire season after an independent investigation found that he had violated multiple team policies.

Udoka allegedly had an improper intimate relationship with a female member of Boston's staff. The Celtics were aware of the relationship by July 2022 and didn't get involved until he allegedly made "unwanted comments" to the woman, per The Athletic's Shams Charania.

The Celtics went on to name Mazzulla, who had been an assistant for the franchise since 2019, interim head coach before officially giving him the job on a permanent basis in February.

The 34-year-old is the youngest coach in the NBA, and he still has a lot to learn. But one thing is clear: He is more than capable of leading the Celtics to the NBA Finals, especially after helping the team reach the conference finals in just his first season.