ISTANBUL 

The Boston Celtics have suspended head coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 season for “violations of team policies.”

“A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date. The suspension takes effect immediately,” the NBA franchise said in statement.

While the club did not share any more details, NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the Nigerian coach was in a consensual intimate relationship with a woman in the organization.

Udoka started his coaching career in 2012 as an assistant in Gregg Popovich's staff at San Antonio Spurs, where he won his first championship in 2014.

He joined the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019 and spent two seasons there and at the Brooklyn Nets, before the Celtics handed him his first gig as head coach in 2021.

Udoka, 45, led Boston to the NBA Finals last season, their first since 2010, where they lost out to the Golden State Warriors.