The Boston Celtics suspended guard Marcus Smart on Thursday for violating team rules. The news came from Celtics head coach Ime Udoka during Thursday’s practice.

“Marcus broke a team rule,” Udoka said. “We talked about it and handled it internally, but he won’t play tomorrow. He’s with us on this trip. Marcus is one of our leaders and we expect a certain standard of him and he knows that. He’s remorseful. He will not play tomorrow and we’ll get him ready for opening night.”

It was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Smart missed the team flight to Orlando prior to Wednesday’s game.

The suspension of Smart comes off as a message to the rest of the Celtics. Udoka is making an example of a team leader in the guard to show that everyone will be held accountable for their actions.

This kind of thing never happened during Brad Stevens tenure as head coach and it truly feels like the beginning of a new era for Celtic basketball.

(Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)