There’s obviously more to this story than what the Celtics are letting on. With Ime Udoka now officially suspended for the 2022/23 season, the coyness and secrecy still surrounding this topic by the Celtics hierarchy in their press conference today was really strange.
What are the Celtics not revealing about this Udoka story? I thought this was an open-and-shut case with Udoka and a female employee engaging in a consensual, secret affair that was recently found out by the Celtics hierarchy, thus forcing them to suspend Udoka for breaching the franchise’s ethics policy.
Well, at least I thought that was the story until today’s press conference with President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens and Celtics Owner Wyc Grousbeck.
According to Grousbeck and Stevens, the Celtics had been investigating this relationship for months by this point, Udoka was also heavily fined to go with his suspension, they weren’t sure if Udoka would retain his coaching role after the suspension, and that NO ONE ELSE was being punished within the Celtics organization for this incident.
Wow, that was a lot of bombshells dropped in a pretty nonchalant-style press conference (at least in my opinion). First, why didn’t the Celtics PR say that Udoka was also getting heavily fined in the first place? That would have been nice to know from the start.
Second, why didn’t the Celtics mention that this investigation was being conducted during those “months” that Grousbeck and Stevens mentioned, or at least suspend Udoka while they were investigating? Was it because the Celtics were in the midst of an NBA Finals run and they didn’t want to ruin the team chemistry? I don’t see how it couldn’t be that reason.
In my opinion, if the Celtics knew/suspected that Udoka was breaking team ethics rules months ago, they should have stopped him as soon as possible by suspending him from the team until the matter was cleared up and resolved.
Instead, it appears that the Celtics brushed aside their concerns about Udoka and used him throughout the playoffs and only punished him after he was no longer useful to the success of the Celtics.
Third, this situation must be more serious than what was previously imagined (at least by me) if Wyc Grousbeck and Brad Stevens are unsure if they’ll keep Udoka on as the head coach of the Celtics after his suspension has been served.
If this was just the consensual affair that has been reported, and the Celtics haven’t fired Udoka already, then surely there would no need to terminate him after he served his punishment? Right?
Maybe I’m just reading way too much into this, but why wouldn’t the Celtics keep Udoka around if this situation wasn’t as bad as it is starting to appear?
Fourth and finally, I’m really starting to question how “consensual” this relationship was if no one else in the Celtics organization is getting reprimanded for this break of team ethics. Surely, at least the woman involved in this matter should also be punished for engaging in a consensual relationship with another member of the Celtics staff.
She’s just as guilty as Udoka is in this situation…if it was purely consensual in the strictest sense of the word.
Now, I’m definitely NOT insinuating that this is an abuse/harassment case as I have no knowledge that would lead me to believe that conclusion. Everything I’ve seen publicly said, by both the Celtics and reporters familiar with the situation, does not lead to that notion.
However, if the woman involved in this relationship was under the impression that she needed to be romantically involved with Udoka to either ‘get ahead’ in the organization or just stay employed, then that’s a massive issue.
If that’s the case, even if Udoka and the woman didn’t intend for it to be that way, then it would make sense why she was not being punished by Boston. Plus, it would also make sense as to why the Celtics are keeping quiet about this whole thing until they gather more evidence and for their trepidation over keeping Udoka as the head coach.
Whatever the deal is with Udoka, this female employee, and the Celtics as a whole, all I can say is that this season is going to be an absolute media whirlwind for the C’s. If there was any Celtics fan excited for another potential NBA Finals run, you’d better dampen your expectations.
I can only see this situation getting worse before it gets better.
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