Ethan Strauss, while speaking on his ‘House of Strauss’ Substack, said something many Boston Celtics may not want to hear after returning to the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years this past season: Ime Udoka is likely done as a coach at the highest level of professional basketball.
Udoka was suspended for the entirety of the 2022-23 season after word got out about an affair with another member of the Boston Celtics organization. At first, athletes all over were defending Udoka for thinking that he was suspended merely for cheating on Nia Long. While having a coach that is involved with morally-bankrupt scandals isn’t preferable, illegal activity wasn’t involved.
But now that retired former NBA Champion Matt Barnes has seemingly indicated that the actual truth is a lot darker than what was initially reported by Adrian Wojnarowski — which was botched in its execution and caused social media hysteria.
This was Strauss’ pessimistic projection of what the future holds for Udoka and his head coaching prospects:
"“Given that report and everything else said in private, an agent friend of mine delivered a verdict on Ime Udoka’s NBA head coaching prospects: ‘He’s done.’ My guy’s not the only one saying it. This is how many NBA insiders now see the situation, and have seen it since Thursday, really. While nobody can completely predict the future, it is a widespread interpretation of present events.”"
Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens has handled this perfectly
While many are upset that Brad Stevens isn’t stepping into the head coaching role himself, his support of interim Joe Mazzulla — which includes forgiveness for past mistakes he has made in his personal life — and for the female members of the Boston Celtics organization that have been targeted unfairly from Woj’s sensationalistic reporting was spot on for a franchise’s leader.
“A lot of people were dragged into that unfairly.”
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) September 23, 2022
Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens had some strong feelings about the female staffers being dragged into the social media conversation. pic.twitter.com/Q2IvR7VGeZ
Ime Udoka did everything right on the court, but clearly has issues with his (former?) fiancée and other members Celtics personnel that could have eventually interfered with his responsibilities as head coach.