The Boston Celtics lost their head coach, Ime Udoka, after Udoka was suspended by the team for having an inappropriate workplace relationship. This was a story that developed over a period of time, with the situation being unclear for many regarding the relationship being consensual or not.
Matt Barnes got stuck right in the middle of this controversy after he pre-empted a statement of support for Udoka, deeming a 1-year suspension from the Boston Celtics unjust given that Robert Sarver had received the exact same suspension from the league. However, Barnes retracted his statement after he got additional details on the situation and addressed it on All The Smoke.
“When I first heard the Udoka situation, I’m like, that’s not really that big of a deal and it’s definitely not as big as Sarver. So when I decided to go post that, I had been on vacation from All The Smoke and I’m still on vacation from ESPN, so I hadn’t been on TV talking about it. People in my DMs ‘what do you think about this?’ so I spoke about it. Not even 2 minutes later, I get a phone call like ‘this is what happened’ and I’m just like damn.”
We still don’t know what was the reason Barnes retracted his statement of support. All we know is that Udoka definitely did something wrong, but the Celtics have done a good job of protecting the people involved from public scrutiny.
Will Ime Udoka Be Boston’s Head Coach Again?
The Celtics job has been given to Joe Mazulla on an interim basis, as the coach tries to replicate Udoka’s success in his first year as a coach. Even with the controversy, many people around the league have been impressed by Udoka’s work last season and would offer him a job under scrutiny if the Celtics were to let him go.
The Celtics will be hoping that they can internally resolve the matter and be in a position where they can trust Udoka in a position of power. Considering his phenomenal debut in coaching, the Celtics and teams around the league will be hoping that Udoka can be accepted back into the NBA community and build on his budding career.
