This really came out of left field. Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka will be SUSPENDED FOR A YEAR by his own team as the Celtics said he engaged in an inappropriate affair with a female employee.
This story is crazy. Ime Udoka was (and really still is) the brightest young coaching candidate in the NBA as he not only inspired the Boston Celtics to a 1st place finish in the Eastern Conference, but also brought the team to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2008.
And, if it wasn’t for the brilliance of Steph Curry, we would be talking about how Ime Udoka won an NBA championship in his first year as a head coach.
That’s how great he was last season. Yet now he’s gone as the Celtics are expected to suspend him internally from all basketball affairs.
I don’t understand how no one heard anything about this alleged affair until only a few hours ago. Did everyone in the Celtics management really not know about Udoka and this female staffer’s relationship before yesterday and today?
I find that hard to believe given how high profile coaching an NBA team, let alone the joint most successful team in NBA history, is.
Anyway, another thing I don’t understand is why have the Celtics not fired Udoka? Surly, if this breach of personal conduct is as bad as the franchise is making it out to be, shouldn’t the team just cut ties with Udoka and move on? That seems the most logical solution to me.
Why keep such a controversial, conduct-breaking individual (according to the Celtics hierarchy) on the payroll?
And if this break isn’t as serious as the Celtics are making it out to be, then why suspend him in the first place? And for such a long time too.
A hefty fine or pay deduction would get the message across just as effectively as a yearlong suspension would. Plus, the whole situation would be dealt with come the start of the season, which would remove all of the negativity and distractions that is bound to come with such news.
Now, with all of that being said, if this story is true, I realize that keeping Udoka around is definitely sending a bad message to the families, children, and advertisers of the Celtics and the NBA. An engaged head coach cheating on his fiancée with a female employee of the team he coaches is a really bad look for Udoka and the Celtics.
To be honest, if this story is true (which it seems like it is), the Celtics should just have cut ways with Udoka by this point. The damage that he has caused to his reputation and the negativity that is now bound to come swirling at the franchise is too much of a headache for him to continue on as the head coach.
Moreover, this suspension also really just serves as a public embarrassment and ridicule of Udoka. By hanging him out to dry in the media like this, the Celtics have effectively tared and feathered Udoka for the rest of his career.
Sure, Udoka brought this mess upon himself with his own actions, but the Celtics have not helped him in any way by giving him a suspension rather than just firing him.
If Udoka was fired, he may have been able to rebuild his reputation and credibility and joined another organization in a few years. Now, he’s forced to sit on the sidelines and take all of the ridicule, criticism, and speculation that is heading his way as his assistant, Joe Mazzulla, takes on the interim head coach role for the C’s.
How is Ime Udoka ever going to recover from this scandal and rejoin the Celtics? The truth is that he’s not. His career with Boston is over, though it looks like the Celtics hierarchy wish to drag him through the mud a little longer with this yearlong suspension.
What a way to start a defense of the Eastern Conference.
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