Joe Mazzulla, the team’s new temporary coach, received the support of the Boston Celtics players.

Mazzulla, who has worked as an assistant for the team for the previous three years, will take Ime Udoka’s place in the interim after he was suspended last week for breaking team rules.

Marcus Smart said that his new coach was a great guy who had been with the team for a long time, while forward Derrick White said during NBA media day that Mazzulla has his full respect and will be fun to play for.

Udoka’s suspension, according to Celtics star Jayson Tatum, was “unexpected,” particularly in light of the team’s run to the NBA Finals last season, where they were ultimately defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks.

As they prepare for the upcoming season, the forward continued, saying that the team is still processing what happened.

Tatum stated that while Udoka’s suspension was an unfortunate circumstance that was out of the blue and that he, along with everyone else, learned of the decision via Twitter, he is confident the new coach will steer them in the right direction.

After summer camp, the Celtics star, fully recovered from his injuries and at ease with his physical state, stated that playing basketball was all he wanted to do.

“What we have to do is get back to work and do what we do best, which is play basketball,” Tatum stated.

Jaylen Brown continued by saying that there was uncertainty surrounding Udoka’s suspension.

“Nobody knew what was going on so it’s hard to comment,” Brown stated.

In addition, Brown expressed his optimism for the new head coach and his belief in his philosophy.

Brown went on, “I believe in Joe and Joe believes in me.”

Few changes, new coach
Joe Mazzulla, 34, the coach of the Boston Celtics, is a former player for West Virginia University and one of the league’s youngest coaches.

Making sure that everyone in the organization, including the players and coaching staff, is on the same page is the new head coach’s top priority, he insisted.