NBA champion and current ESPN analyst Matt Barnes provided some more commentary regarding the Boston Celtics’ suspension of their head coach Ime Udoka claiming that if all the details about the suspension are made public it’s likely he won’t be coaching in the NBA again.
Matt Barnes in Washington Wizards v/s Los Angeles Lakers December 14, 2010 Photo Credit: Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Udoka was suspended for the 2022-23 season by the Celtics on September 22nd. The organization announced, “The Boston Celtics announced today that the team has suspended Head Coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-2023 season for violations of team policies.”
“A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date. The suspension takes effect immediately.”
Boston Celtics Twitter
It was originally reported he engaged in a consensual relationship with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski writing on Twitter, “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.”
Adrian Wojnarowski Twitter
It was later reported that the female staff member “recently accused him of making unwanted comments towards her.”
In a press conference, the Celtics didn’t provide any details on what the violation was, but indicated they contacted a law firm over the summer to conduct an investigation into the matter.
As for the punishment, Boston Celtics Governor Wys Grousbeck did say, “I personally feel that this is well warranted and appropriate, backed by substantial research, and evidence, and facts. So I’m standing by the decision and Ime has accepted it and has expressed, in fact, appreciation.”
“I don’t want to belabor that, but he’s been accepting of it and he’s planning to move forward on this basis,” he added.
Barnes initially reacted to Udoka’s suspension by defending him in a now deleted Instagram post saying, “Just saw a year suspension was just handed down by the team for an inappropriate, consensual sexual situation with a female that worked in the organization. I’ve played in the league for a long time. Anyone who played in the league could tell you this is a very common situation.
“This is not new news for people who been in the league or even around organizations. I’ve seen it from owners to executives to coaches to players to trainers to therapists to dancers to PR ladies. This is not uncommon,” he added.
#ImeUdoka has been suspended for the entire season after it was revealed he had an “improper intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the team staff.” Now #MattBarnes is sharing his thoughts on the whole matter. read more at https://t.co/NgmfaFQdbz pic.twitter.com/DaUG1J5IQ1
— Theeshaderoomed (@Theeshaderoomed) September 23, 2022
RELATED: NBA Champion Matt Barnes Claims Ime Udoka’s Suspension Is “100 Times Uglier Than Any Of Us Thought”
However, he would recant those comments in a follow-up post to Instagram, which he has also deleted. He said, “Since I am part of the media now, and I try not to be like everyone else. I try to report and talk with facts and honesty. And I clearly have to say last night without knowing all the facts I spoke on Ime Udoka’s defense. And after finding out the facts after I spoke I erased what I posted because this situation in Boston is deep. It’s messy. It’s 100 times uglier than any of us thought. And that’s why I erased what I said.”
He continued, “Some things happened that I can’t condone, I can’t back. It’s not my place to tell you what happened. If it ends up coming out, it ends up coming out. But that was the reason why I erased my post last night because after I posted it I got a call from someone who had all the details and the s**t is deep.”
“So, man, praying for everybody involved. Hope everyone gets through this. I saw a lot of blogs picked up what I said even though it was only on my page for like two minutes so hopefully they pick this up too for me being wrong and jumping out there without the facts,” he concluded.
Matt Barnes on the situation with ime. He was told what happened and it sounds like it’s pretty bad. pic.twitter.com/PnMZzR2WsW
— Ant ☘️🏀 (@GangCeltics) September 23, 2022
He further discussed Udoka during an interview with Vlad TV saying, “After I found out what happened, I had to back up and assess the situation and I’m not going to say what happened. If it comes out it’ll probably come out because everything eventually comes out. But I just can’t support some of the stuff he did. So that’s why I kind of had to back pedal off that and then let people know I was wrong for jumping out there without the information.”
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Vlad TV then asserted, “Without getting into any details, it’s not so much that he slept with someone, but who he slept with.”
Barnes replied, “That’s what I’m hearing too. So if what I heard is true it’s just, ‘Yo, you’re on your own, bro. I can’t back that.'”
Matt Barnes via Golden State Warriors YouTube
Later on in the interview, Barnes asserted, “If everything comes out he’ll be lucky if he coaches in the NBA again to be honest with you.”
He added, “I think it’s pretty heavy, man. It’s just some stuff you can’t do. You know what I mean? Because some stuff you can’t do. It’s just like, again, not judging, to each his own, I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but if everything comes out it could get extra hot in the kitchen for him.”
What do you make of Barnes’ comments on Udoka?
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