Boston Celtics

Jaylen Brown says he feels terrible for the talented young men on the Donda Academy hoops roster who are missing out on opportunities because of Kanye West ... so he's doing something about it -- by offering to sponsor any event that will host the team.

Brown took to Twitter on Friday to announce his plan ... explaining kids shouldn't be punished for West's antisemitic rants.

"These student-athletes can’t be negatively impacted by this," 26-year-old Brown said. "We all must ensure they complete their senior yr both academically & athletically."

Remember, Donda Academy's hoops team was booted from the Scholastic Play-by-Play Classics -- a high-profile tournament -- over Ye's controversial comments.

The tourney explained the decision in a statement ... saying, "Kanye's words and actions violate our values as a company and a country, and what we seek to ensure at all of our events -- a spirit of diversity, sportsmanship, inclusion, equity, and mutual respect."

"Unfortunately, we cannot in good conscience host an organization founded and directed by Mr. West at our events."

The tourney is a huge deal ... which is why Brown is so passionate about ensuring the players -- including five-star guards Robert Dillingham and AJ Johnson -- have a chance to showcase their talents.

As we previously reported, Jaylen and Rams star Aaron Donald announced their departure from Ye's Donda Sports company amid the backlash surrounding the embroiled artist.

Brown initially said he would remain with Donda -- but had a change of heart and apologized, saying, "I've been able to reflect and better understand how my previous statements lack clarity in expressing my stance against recent insensitive public remarks and actions."

The Celtics will be without Grant Williams for one game -- the NBA just suspended the forward after making contact with a referee during Boston's matchup against the Bulls this week.

The call was made during the 4th quarter of the Celtics game on Oct. 24 ... after Williams was charged with a blocking foul against Zach LaVine.

The 6'6" baller disagreed with the call and unintentionally bumped into referee Cheryl Flores as he got up with frustration.

Williams was immediately ejected for making contact ... and he was so pissed, he had to be forced into the United Center tunnel by Celtics coaching staffers.

The NBA's Executive VP Joe Dumars announced Williams was suspended for one game without pay "for recklessly making contact with and directing inappropriate language toward a game official."

Aaron Donald and Jaylen Brown are no longer Donda Sports athletes -- the two superstars just released statements saying they have cut ties with Kanye West over his antisemitic comments.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Donald signed with Ye's Donda Sports in late May. At the time, he said it was the company's "whole family atmosphere" that convinced him to sign with West.

Brown followed right after ... signing with DS later that month.

Donda Sports started off hot with two huge names in their respective sports. Now, the organization has zero clients on its athletic roster.

Donald released a statement on Tuesday ... saying, "The recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children. We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family."

He added ... "As parents and members of society, we felt a responsibility to send a clear message that hateful words and actions have consequences and that we must do better as human beings. We do not feel our beliefs, voices and actions belong anywhere near a space that misrepresents and oppresses people of any background, ethnicity or race."

Brown -- who denounced Kanye's statements on Monday, but said he would remain with Donda -- also addressed his change of heart ... saying, "In the past 24 hours, I've been able to reflect and better understand how my previous statements lack clarity in expressing my stance against recent insensitive public remarks and actions. For that, I apologize."

"And in this, I seek to be as clear as possible. I have always, and will always, continue to stand strongly against antisemitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and oppressive rhetoric of any kind."

Jaylen Brown says he's sticking with Donda Sports, despite repeated antisemitic remarks made by founder Kanye West ... comments the Celtics star says he adamantly condemns.

On Monday, Jaylen was asked about his business relationship with Ye's company, telling the Boston Globe he won't be jumping ship.

"First, I don’t condone any hurt, harm, or danger toward any group of people or individuals whatsoever," said Brown, who joined Donda Sports in May shortly after Rams star Aaron Donald.

Brown said despite the criticism embroiling West, he's more focused on the agency's mission and positive impact.

"The reason why I signed with Donda Sports, it represented education, it represented activism, disruption, it represented single-parent households, and a lot more people are involved in something like that."

Of course, Kanye has repeatedly made antisemitic comments ... 'cause lucrative business partners like Balenciaga dropped him. Adidas, his biggest partner, has faced tremendous pressure to part ways with Ye.

Brown defined his current relationship with West as a "sensitive subject," adding that it's hard to comment on it because it's being "evaluated."

"He’s someone who's obviously dealing with a lot of adversity that’s in front of him right now, and everybody can see it, and it’s public," 26-year-old Brown said.

The Boston Celtics came up with a special way to honor Bill Russell this season ... with the late Hall of Famer getting a tribute on the team's alternate jersey.

The Cs made the announcement on Monday via IG with photos of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Grant Williams rockin' the new gear -- and they're pretty dope.

The jerseys are dark green, black, and gold featuring 11 gold diamonds on the sides ... to symbolize the number of NBA championships Russell had won during his career.

There's also another set of 11 gold diamonds surrounding Russell's No. 6 jersey number on the waistband ... and the new scripted Celtics wordmark was inspired by Slade’s Bar & Grill, a spot that was owned by Russell in the 1960s.

The Celtics also shared a tribute video of the jersey release ... showing throwback highlights of Russell and what he meant not only to the NBA but to the world.

"Paying homage to a true champion," Celtics said in the caption, "and the Gold Standard of what it means to be a Celtic ☘️."

FYI, Russell -- who played center for the C's from 1956 to 1969 -- helped design the city edition unis with the team before he passed this July at the age of 88.

The Celtics will wear the tribute gear 11 times this year -- another homage to his title wins -- and will start with their season opener against the 76ers on Tuesday.

Metta Sandiford-Artest just became a big Blake Griffin fan ... and it's all a result of the new Celtics forward's decision to rock #91 in honor of the great Hall of Famer, Dennis Rodman!!

TMZ Sports spoke with Metta out in Beverly Hills this week ... and he was pleasantly surprised to learn Griffin was paying respect to Rodman's legacy with his jersey number this season.

"That's incredible," the 2003-04 Defensive Player of the Year said about Griffin's number change. "That's great to hear. I'm a big Rodman fan, and now I'll buy the jersey."

Griffin -- who signed with the Boston Celtics as a free agent last week -- confirmed to reporters after his first practice with his new teammates that the reason he is going to wear the #91 is to pay homage to Rodman, the 5-time NBA champ.

Artest -- who played 17 seasons in the NBA with the Pacers, Knicks, Kings, Rockets, Lakers, and Bulls -- earned a reputation for his physical style of defense ... and was one of four players to wear the #91 in NBA history.

The other three are Mindaugas Kuzminskas (New York Knicks), Deividas Sirvydis (Detroit Pistons) ... and, of course, Rodman.

There's more -- Metta retired from the NBA in 2017, but it may not be long before we see another Artest in the association -- because MSA tells us both of his sons are still pursuing their hoop dreams.

Nia Long doesn't have much to say about her partner's cheating scandal -- but her body language and accessories speak volumes.

The actress was approached by a photog Saturday in L.A. -- where she surfaced for the first time with her son, Kez -- and the obvious was asked ... how's she feeling about the fact that Celtics HC Ime Udoka was found to have been in an extramarital affair with a staffer?

She stayed mostly silent, saying she didn't want to comment -- but when asked if she's working things out with Ime, watch how she reacts ... it's telling. Since the news broke of her fiancé's infidelity, she's kept a low profile -- and hasn't been seen publicly until now.

Also of note ... it doesn't look like Nia's wearing her engagement ring, although she doesn't always rock it when out and about. Still, at a time like this -- it seems important.

As we reported ... sources tell us Nia felt blindsided by the whole thing, especially since he had moved her and their kid to Boston somewhat recently -- even though the investigation had been taking place for months, with no one giving her a heads up until it hit the fan.

We've also been told that the cheating hits close to home -- because the woman with whom Ime hooked up was actually known to Nia personally. She actually helped Nia move to Boston, and was involved in team-related travel too.

Celtics star Jaylen Brown admits he was blindsided by the allegations against Boston head coach Ime Udoka ... saying he was both "shocked" and "confused" over it all.

Brown made the revelation after he was asked by reporters at the team's media day on Monday what his reaction was when he found out Udoka had been accused of having a consensual relationship with a female Celtics staffer -- all allegedly while he was still dating Nia Long.

"My initial reaction, we were all shocked at what was going on," Brown said ... before adding, "A little confused a little bit, but a lot of information wasn't being shared with us."

Brown -- who's been with the Celtics the last six seasons -- said there have been no conversations between him and Udoka since the coach was suspended for the scandal.

Jayson Tatum also spoke about Udoka and the season-long suspension levied against the C's head man ... calling it "a lot to process."

"Coming into this season," the star wing said, "you feel a certain way, and coming off last year, you're excited. Trying to do all these things."

"Along with everyone else, just still trying to process it all, knowing we start practice tomorrow."

NBC Sports Boston reporter Amanda Pflugrad also called out the Celtics at the start of Monday's event ... as well as the social media users who posted the names of female employees to speculate on the identity of the staffer.

"Every woman in our organization has worked extremely hard to get where she is at, and she deserves and earns everything that she has right now," she said. "For things in the Celtics, and what we’re doing moving forward, things do need to change. You need to stand up, support us and hear us."

The Celtics employee with whom Ime Udoka had an affair helped make all his travel arrangements ... and that job sometimes included organizing travel for his fiancee, Nia Long.

Sources connected to the couple and the NBA franchise tell TMZ ... one of the staffer's duties included planning Udoka's team-related travel, and we're told she was also involved in booking travel for Nia to come to Boston or to road games.

Perhaps most upsetting for Nia is that the employee had a hand in Nia's arrangements to move to Boston permanently, according to our sources.

TMZ broke the story ... Nia had just moved east a little over 2 weeks ago with Kez, her 10-year-old son with Ime.

The Celtics are not releasing the name of the employee, but we're told Nia has been told who she is.

Team President Brad Stevens got choked up Friday during a news conference ... saying the scandal had been particularly upsetting for all their female employees -- due to speculation about who had the affair with Udoka.

As we've reported, the team suspended its head coach for the entire 2022-23 season after what it says was a months-long investigation into his conduct.

Nia Long says she's gonna need all the support she can get after getting blindsided by her fiance, Celtics Coach Ime Udoka ... who we've learned kept her in the dark about his affair, even though the team busted him months ago.

Sources connected to the team and the couple tell TMZ ... Nia had moved to Boston with Kez, her 10-year-old son with Ime, just 2 weeks ago, and the couple was house hunting.

The sad twist for Nia is that when she moved, Ime was already fully aware his affair with a married front office staffer was about to blow up. We're told Ime knew way back in July the team was aware of the affair, and was launching an investigation.

Meanwhile, we're told Nia only found out about it in the last few days ... and only because Ime knew it was about to go public.

Nia tells TMZ, through her rep Shannon Barr ... "The outpouring of love and support from family, friends and the community during this difficult time means so much to me. I ask that my privacy be respected as I process the recent events. Above all, I am a mother and will continue to focus on my children."

The social media backlash against Ime, and support for Nia, was swift as soon as the Celtics announced on Wednesday they'd be punishing him.

On Thursday night, the Celtics officially suspended him for the entire upcoming 2022-23 season.

The Boston Celtics had known about the allegations against Ime Udoka for a couple months at the most ... team owner Wyc Grousbeck said on Friday.

Grousbeck addressed the situation surrounding his team's head coach publicly for the first time with media members since banning Udoka on Thursday for one full year, and while he declined to get into any specifics of the case, he did say the Celtics were first made aware of the claims at some point this summer.

Grousbeck says the team immediately brought in a law firm to investigate ... and it concluded its probe on Wednesday.

After learning of the firm's findings, Grousbeck said, the Boston owner and other execs within the Celtics org. decided to suspend Udoka for the entirety of the 2022-23 season.

Grousbeck reiterated Friday that the punishment could go on longer than just one year.

Udoka is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer during his one year as Celtics coach. Neither the team nor Udoka has addressed the allegations specifically, though Udoka did issue an apology on Thursday night following the announcement of his ban.

"I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down," Udoka said. "I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team's decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment."

Udoka was hired by the Celtics in June 2021. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said they had no indication that he had been guilty of any misconduct at his previous jobs during his interview process.

"Nothing but glowing remarks," Stevens said.

Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka reportedly had an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer ... and he's now facing a suspension over it all.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday night the 45-year-old was found to have had a "consensual intimate relationship" with a woman who has a role on the Celtics' staff -- a violation of Boston's franchise guidelines.

As a result, according to Woj, Udoka is facing a ban from the team that could be "significant." Udoka's job, however, is not believed to be on the line.

Further details regarding the allegations were not disclosed. Udoka and the Celtics have yet to address the report.

Udoka -- who took the Celtics job in 2021 and led the team to an NBA Finals appearance in his first year as head man -- has been in a relationship with actress Nia Long since 2010.

The couple reportedly got engaged back in 2015 -- and has one child together.

Udoka played in the NBA for nearly a decade in the early 2000s -- and began his coaching career with the Spurs following his playing days in 2012.

He later coached for the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets before joining the Celtics.

Kyrie Irving seems to be at peace with the Brooklyn Nets' early exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Boston Celtics ... saying, "It was meant to happen like that."

Irving made the comments while gaming on Twitch -- as he was recalling the Celtics' 4-0 sweep of the Nets in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season.

"We got 4-0'd, my G," Irving said. "We got 4-0'd, bro. We needed that humbling experience, especially going against the Celtics. It was already built to be that matchup."

Irving -- who faced scrutiny all season for his COVID-19 vaccine stance -- averaged 21.3 points per game alongside Kevin Durant, who led the team in scoring.

The Nets, led by their two stars, were slight favorites heading into the series ... but the budding duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown proved too much.

"Those youngins over there in Boston, I got to see them grow up," said Irving, who spent two seasons in Boston with the Celtics. "To see them doing what they did last year on the final stage, making it that far, I'm glad they had to go through us."

Kyrie said he is using the sweep as motivation moving forward and is eager to play Boston in the playoffs again.

Bill Russell's 1975 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ring -- earned after dominating the NBA for 13 seasons -- is on the auction block, and is expected to sell for upwards of $200K!!

TMZ Sports has learned the ring, which SCP Auctions describes as a "fine piece of jewelry," weighs 65 grams and is 14-karat gold with 1.625 carats of real diamonds.

The top of the huge, 12 3/4 sized ring resembles a basketball, and has the words "Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame" encircling the brown enamelwork.

On one side of the ring is "William F. Russell" ... with the year "1975," when he was inducted.

On the other side is the word "Player" -- which Russell embodied throughout his career -- which sits above an image of Dr. James Naismith, the man credited with inventing basketball.

The ring also comes with a letter describing its rich history and provenance ... signed by the GOAT himself.

Remember, Russell famously declined to attend his induction ceremony in '75 ... saying he refused to accept the honor 'cause he felt others before him should be inducted first.

Instead, Russell -- a 13-time champ (11 as a player, 2 as a player-coach) -- opted to receive his ring in 2019 at a private ceremony with his wife, Jeannine, and close friends.

The Celtics legend passed away in July at age 88 ... and was celebrated through the sports world for his contributions to the game of basketball both on and off the court.

The NBA has since listened to the pleas of Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, who -- in the aftermath of Russell's death -- advocated the league retire Bill's iconic No. 6.

Russell's No. 6 will be retired throughout the league, making him the first player ever to receive the honor ... fitting considering his legacy and impact.

The ring has already been bid on 5 times ... with a high bid of $43,923.

Julius Erving loves Kobe Bryant and even played with the Mamba's father ... but he tells TMZ Sports the NBA shouldn't retire the Lakers legend's numbers league-wide like it did with Bill Russell earlier this summer.

Most believe that following Adam Silver's decision to honor Russell by permanently hanging up his #6 following the Celtics legend's death -- he should do the same for Kobe, who tragically passed away in 2020.

But, Dr. J -- who called Russell a good friend of his -- clearly feels differently.

"I don't think he should be compared with the Russell situation," Erving said of Kobe out at LAX. "We're fresh into that but let's see how that works out. Maybe at some point in time. Bill was 86 years old, so address it like that to an 86-year-old -- multiple champions, multiple coaching champions, multiple on-and-off the court champion, or whatever -- there's no comparison."

"I wouldn't even try to compare Kobe Bryant to Russell."

Instead, Erving said he believes the posthumous honors that Bryant receives should be left up to his former L.A. team.

"It's more of a franchise situation with the Lakers," Erving said. "If they wanted to do it, which I think they already have, that makes sense -- but for the whole league to do it, probably not."

The late Bill Russell is getting the ultimate tribute -- the NBA just announced the Celtics legend's No. 6 will be retired throughout the league ... making him the first player to receive such an honor.

The Association just announced the move minutes ago ... with commish Adam Silver explaining the decision.

"Bill Russell's unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way," Silver said. "Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill's transcendent career will always be recognized."

Current players who don the number -- most notably Lakers superstar LeBron James -- will not have to make a change ... as the league says those who currently wear No. 6 will be grandfathered.

On top of the number retirement, the league says each player will wear a jersey patch honoring the 11-time champion ... and each court will display a tribute logo next to the scorer's table.

The honor is exactly what names like Magic Johnson and Mike Woodson were hoping for -- both former players called for the league to raise No. 6 in the rafters at every NBA arena.