In December, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens took it upon himself to defend head coach Ime Udoka in an interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
“He’s a guy I believe in,” Stevens told Himmelsbach. “I just think it’s so important not to get into celebrating your success or bemoaning your losses. It’s about, go find solutions. And he does that. He’s constantly searching, constantly thinking.”
Stevens’ defense of his new coach didn’t come out of nowhere. Udoka took heavy criticism early from fans frustrated by a new-look Celtics team that played identically to last year’s lackluster group.