Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka played an April Fools’ Day joke on his team that may have revealed a bit more about them than he intended it to.
Udoka staged a fake fight with forward Grant Williams during practice to play a trick on his team. Udoka successfully kept his entire coaching staff and roster in the dark, but was somewhat surprised when none of them tried to act as peacemaker when he and Williams started jawing.
“We butted heads a little bit last game, had a few discussions, so this was my way of making up to him and apologizing in front of the team, I guess,” Udoka said of Williams. “Just got in a fake argument. Grant likes to talk back, so it wasn’t unexpected that he had something to say back. We started chirping, walked toward each other. I expected a teammate or two or a coach to get in the middle and then I would have turned it up from there, but nobody got in the way. So we kept going and as people started to think it was very serious, we hugged and yelled April Fools and fooled the whole gym.”
Udoka was surprised that nobody tried to intervene, but he got a succinct explanation for that later.
“I heard later, three or four players said they wanted to see Grant get his a– kicked,” Udoka admitted.
Obviously, the Celtics have a great relationship with their coach if he can get away with things like this. It shows on the court, too: Boston is one of the hottest teams in the league at 22-5 in their last 27 games. They’re even winning despite a key injury blow. Udoka’s ability to keep things loose may be a big part of why that is.
Photo: Mar 23, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka watches from the sideline as they take on the Utah Jazz in the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
