It could've represented the biggest nadir of the Celtics' season. Following a horrific loss to the Bulls, Marcus Smart called out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for not passing the ball enough.
Instead, Smart's public airing of grievances was a turning point. Ime Udoka's handling of the volatile situation was perfect.
Jackie MacMullan has written an excellent profile on the Celtics' coach, who's led them to the NBA Finals in his first year on the job. In it, Udoka talks about how he dealt with the Celtics' early season struggles. They started 16-19 and were nearly falling out of the playoff race.
On Nov. 1, Smart fired his verbal missive. "Every team knows we are trying to go to Jayson and Jaylen, and every team is programmed and studied to stop Jayson and Jaylen," he told reporters. "I think everybody's scouting report is to make those guys try to pass the ball. They don't want to pass the ball and that's something that they're going to learn."
Smart's barb was a continuation of the inner-turmoil that ailed Boston during the 2020 NBA Bubble and throughout its maddening 2020-21 campaign. But Udoka wasn't annoyed by it: he was repeating the same message behind closed doors.
The problem was, Smart criticized Tatum and Brown publicly. Udoka told him to fix it.
"It was nothing I hadn't said behind closed doors," he said to MacMullan. "But in this case, it was a player saying it publicly. And what Marcus was saying in that particular game was totally invalid. Jayson and Jaylen were drawing a lot of doubles and were making the correct pass each time—including to Marcus—who couldn't make a shot that night."
Damon Stoudamire, the former NBA point guard who's now an assistant on Boston's staff, says Smart's comments sparked an overdue dialogue between members of the team's young core.
"We sat down as a team and got it all out there," Stoudamire said. "Marcus made a statement, then the other guys said, 'OK, we hear what you are saying, but you need to be accountable too. You gotta take better care of the ball.'"
With 13 pro seasons under his belt — in which he played for 13 teams — it's apparent the Celtics respect Udoka. He learned his coaching craft under Gregg Popovich and sharpened it in Philadelphia and Brooklyn.
Now, he's sharpening the Celtics. Udoka is the perfect guy for the job.
