Report: Celtics add Damon Stoudamire to coaching staff

Sources tell CelticsBlog that Damon Stoudamire has agreed to join Ime Udoka’s staff as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics:

Stoudamire was most recently the head coach at the University of the Pacific from 2016-17 through 2020-21. He took over the reins at Pacific after five years as an assistant on the college level at both Memphis and Arizona.

As a player, Stoudamire was in the NBA for 13 seasons. He started his career by winning Rookie of the Year in 1996 for the Toronto Raptors. Stoudamire also played for the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs. Stoudamire finished his NBA career by splitting the 2007-2008 season with Memphis and San Antonio. During his final season, Stoudamire was teammates with Udoka on the Spurs.

For his career, Stoudamire averaged 13.1 points and 6.1 assists per game. Nicknamed “Mighty Mouse” due to his 5’10’’ height, Stoudamire was the Blazers starting point guard for six straight playoff runs from 1998 through 2003.

Udoka was expected to add some NBA playing experience to his staff and has done so with Stoudamire. Boston has been linked to Spurs assistant coach Will Hardy for one of their assistant openings, as well.

It was recently reported that longtime Brad Stevens assistants Jay Larranaga and Jamie Young would not be returning under Udoka. Another assistant, Jerome Allen, has left the Celtics for an assistant job with the Detroit Pistons. At this point, there are no updates on the future of Boston’s other assistants.

It’s expected that Udoka will have his staff mostly in place before Boston starts Summer League in Las Vegas on August 8. At this point, it’s unknown if Udoka will coach the Summer Celtics himself. It’s not unusual for a first-time head coach to be on the sidelines during Summer League, to get some experience as far as play-calling and making substitutions and the like.