During a press conference on Friday, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said a law firm hired to investigate coach Ime Udoka’s intimate relationship with a female staff member uncovered “a volume of violations,” writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. The team reached out to the law firm this summer after being made aware of the nature of the relationship. Grousbeck added that the investigation focused entirely on Udoka, and no one else in the organization is facing disciplinary action.
Grousbeck received the firm’s report on Wednesday and talked to several shareholders before deciding to impose a season-long suspension on Udoka that runs through June 30. He added that there is a “a significant financial penalty” that goes along with the suspension, but didn’t specify whether Udoka will go through the entire year without being paid.
“This felt right, but there’s no clear guidelines for any of this,” Grousbeck responded when asked whether Udoka should have been dismissed. “This is really a conscious, gut feel and being here 20 years.”
There’s more from Boston:
- Team president Brad Stevens‘ answer about the level of communication Udoka will have with the team during his suspension was troubling, contends Steve Buckley of The Athletic. “I’m not going to get into specifics of what I, how we’re moving forward with that,” Stevens said at the press conference. “But I will say that he’s got a lot of relationships with a lot of people. As we alluded to earlier, yesterday wasn’t an easy day for a lot of people in a lot of ways.” Buckley warns that any conversations between Udoka and the players could undermine 34-year-old interim coach Joe Mazzulla and recommends that the suspended coach should be banned from talking to them during the season.
- Stevens wasn’t interested in returning to his former job as head coach while Udoka is suspended, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Grousbeck brought up the idea, but Stevens believes he can better serve the team by staying in his current position and acting as an advisor to Mazzulla.
- Stevens told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that the Celtics won’t overreact to Robert Williams‘ injury by signing a veteran big man before giving a chance to players already on the roster. Washburn suggests that could mean more minutes for Luke Kornet and possibly two-way player Mfiondu Kabengele.
There seems to be alot more to this than just a corporate no no consensual relationship
Matt Barnes alluded to that.
Seems like a “love him as a coach, hate him as a person” situation. It’s hard to believe they’re planning on reinstating him after this mess.
I doubt he’ll ever coach there again. How can they bring him back? It would create a mess. If he goes to another team, same thing will happen. Maybe in 3 to 5 years it will blow over long as no criminal charges are filed.
Agree. He’s done in Boston.
Mans could’ve just downloaded Tinder and avoided all this mess….
Udoka is a loser. I dont how or anyone can justify his behavior. It doesnt matter if it’s consensual or 2 grownup adults. And it’s not even about being extramarital affairs. It’s about leveraging your position at workplace to take advantage of another person of lower position, and taking the dignity of that person’s right to work and earn a living without sexual harassment. It’s 2020’s !!!!
GTHO Udoka!!!
I really think Stevens wants to go back to coaching? WHY? Once a coach, always a coach. And he’s still very young and healthy. There is no doubt he has itching to coach. But he has to wait. It just would not have looked good if he took over under this situation. I do believe race was a factor in having Mazzulla take over. Besides, Stevens can and will be controlling him like his assistant coach. It doesnt really make sense for this inexperienced young coach to take over a contender. Even Hardy is coaching a total rebuild in Utah.
Mazzulla is just a one-year solution. I don’t see how Udoka comes back. The Celtics will be fine ultimately on the bench. Look for Quin Snyder to take the reigns to start the 2023-24 season.
Snyder didn’t want to coach a rebuild in Utah, and is taking the year off. Is highly regarded in coaching circles. This is why he took the year off. Now he will have his choice of the top available jobs on the market, and will be able to pick the best overall situation.