NBA legend Paul Pierce may have been a beast on the basketball court, but he probably shouldn’t be speaking when it comes to off-court scandals.
On Thursday, the former Celtic became the latest in a growing list of people to raise support for Celtics coach Ime Udoka. After reports of his sexual relationship with a fellow team staffer went viral, a possible season-long suspension is being considered by Boston’s front office.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN now reports that Udoka is facing a suspension for the entire 2022-23 NBA campaign. The Celtics obviously didn’t take this offense lightly and are ready to give Udoka a big punishment for his actions.
Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka is likely facing a suspension for the entire 2022-2023 season for his role in a consensual relationship with a female staff member, sources tell ESPN. A formal announcement is expected as soon as today.
It’s a wild turn of events for a team that just made the NBA Finals, but nobody really knows how it will play out. As it stands, Udoka has a few options. He can accept whatever punishment gets issued and return next season, he can completely reject the suspension and just resign from his position, or he can fight this thing as hard as he can and work to convince the team to let him off easy.
As the world awaits to see what comes next, many have chimed in to share their own thoughts on the situation. On Twitter Thursday, former Celtics legend Paul Pierce found himself in hot water after standing up for Udoka’s conduct.
It should just be a fine not a suspension 🤷🏾♂️
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) September 22, 2022
NBA Fans Call Out Paul Pierce After He Tries Defending Ime Udoka
To Ime’s credit, the relationship was completely consensual, so some fans believe he didn’t do anything wrong at all. Still, Pierce was shut down pretty quickly by the fans, who were quick to bring Pierce’s own scandals back into the light.
You should sit this one out 🤦♂️ https://t.co/YdO8blGfku
— Kam💥 (@Kamm675) September 22, 2022
Well, nobody can say you aren't well versed enough in the subject to give your opinion, that's for sure pic.twitter.com/nItZCjWPkU
— B. (@HooksAndHoops) September 22, 2022
“it should just be a fine not a suspension” pic.twitter.com/AxsOSFab2S
— #FireGrier #FireMcDaniel (@JTG2K) September 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/IWearCondoms/status/1573092819585363969https://twitter.com/TA1297/status/1573073403745308672
This tweet coming from you is HILARIOUS 😂 https://t.co/dSLfpGcHbI
— Ty (@chargeit2TY) September 22, 2022
you one to talk 😭😭😂😂😂😂 them pandemic IG stories https://t.co/mn0XoIqI9Z
— Snakes ⬅️&➡️ (@justWayneCamp) September 22, 2022
Of course this dude would say that 😂 https://t.co/HyUJmDFiHw
— CLIPMAN ✂️💥🖐🤖 (@Clipman19) September 22, 2022
For those that don’t know, Pierce is still trying to recover from when he posted a wild video to his Instagram story of “hanging out” in a room with several women. So, if anyone knows about this type of thing, it’s Pierce. And while he ended up getting fired from his job at the time, it remains to be seen how the Celtics will handle Udoka.
They can fire him, but it might not be so easy to find a suitable replacement. In the meantime, the community will continue to discuss and debate what the response should be.
