Celtics’ Marcus Smart says ‘It’s been hell’ for Team Amid Ime Scandal

Smart Marcus was candid about the “hell” he and the rest of the Boston Celtics have been through over the past week.

Days after Celtics head coach suspended Ime Udoka for breaching team policies, the 28-year-old goalkeeper spoke to reporters on their media day about the team’s situation since learning of his coach’s suspension on social media.

“It’s been hell for us,” Marcus said, per Athleticism journalist Jared Weiss September 26. “It happened at a time when we didn’t have time to figure it all out before media day…we just found out like you did, so we’re doing our best to cope.”

Although the team is going through a tough time right now, Marcus said they are just trying to manage the start of camp this week.

“Nobody died, so we didn’t lose anything,” the reigning Defensive Player of the Year said. “I still love Ime as a person and as a coach. It was just something unfortunate that happened to him. It doesn’t take anything away from him as a coach, from the way he transformed this team .”