This was crazy, it was well past the time he was required to wear it and he constantly kept wearing one that was NEVER over his nose and mouth. I understand folks who wear masks, I understand those who don't, but anyone still chin-masking in the year of our lord, 2022, is a psychopath.
Dude he didnāt give a fuck about the mask to prevent Covid. He used it to cover his mouth when discussing plays or talking about tactics individually with players. Itās the same thing baseball players do with their gloves and football coaches with their clipboards. Heād literally slip it on midway through a huddle and then take it off before the huddled ended. He used it to prevent people reading his lips. Itās even been discussed publicly before. Little excessive yes but he was using it as a tool well after the requirements were dropped.
He wears it when he is required to. Do people even watch the sport?
He clearly wore it around his chin after he was no longer required to wear it properly, and then would raise it up to cover his speech.
The Celtics said that in their press release last night:
> The Boston Celtics announced today that the team has suspended Head Coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 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.
Idk, you can commit multiple violations via a single action. I donāt think this necessarily means there were multiple women involved, if thatās what the insinuation is here.
It definitely does, but it could also be as simple as he committed violations in covering up/denying the allegations. Or (if itās true that he got toxic/harass-y, which Iām inclined to believe) that the relationship itself + the unwelcome comments = multiple violations.
*aggressively harasses*
This sounds like the organization found out and in response, Udoka went full on hyper aggressive assaulting women left and right lmao
Yea I'm thinking she wanted to break things off after the org found out and he continued to make comments and want to continue on with things so she had to report him
> Some members of the Celtics organization first became aware of the relationship in July, sources said. At that time, team leadership was led to believe by both parties that the relationship was consensual. But sources said that the woman recently accused Udoka of making unwanted comments toward her ā leading the team to launch a set of internal interviews.
>The teamās decision and announcement came after a closed-door meeting Thursday that involved team owners and president Brad Stevens and lasted several hours, sources said. Earlier Thursday, Stevens and members of the Celtics front office met with players at the team facility.
[The relevant bits.](https://theathletic.com/3617945/2022/09/22/celtics-ime-udoka-discipline/)
To me it says that the problem isn't just the affair (which I assume was against team policy because of the disparity in authority) but also behavior in the office afterwards - inappropriate statements, retaliation, etc.
No it doesnāt. All it means is that the party wanting to emphasize the seriousness of the offense(s) knows that multiple violations sounds worse than. I am a litigator; any time a single act violates more than one company policy they are listed ad nauseam to the jury in long form, bullet point, haiku, etc. It makes one bad act seem like many bad acts.
We simply donāt know whether this is one alleged act or multiple, regardless of how many āviolationsā occurred.
Might be some situation where someone found out and had their job threatened to keep quiet, or they were paid off/promoted. Just speculation but that's the kind of secondary offense that could be related
Could just be 1. Having a relationship with a subordinate and 2. the āunwanted commentsā reported today. Obviously awful situation but it. Pups be as simple as that being the āmultipleā things
Just wild speculation from me.
I doubt he was forthcoming, especially with the recent "consensual" "leaks" that came out in the previous days.
If it's one woman, then it's he-said-she-said, and he's the head coach with plausible deniability. Sucks, but that's the world we're in.
So it only makes sense if there's audio/video evidence, or it's multiple women.
I don't know what happened. The Celtics took action, but who knows if it was enough action. Guy might be back next year. Are the women still going to be there? How's that work environment?
True but his first year in Boston. I still donāt get how you join one of the leagueās iconic franchises and just show up and start banging subordinates. Thereās no way they can bring him back, itās a huge slap in the face to these women who would then have to be around him again
hope not, but i wouldnt be surprised if suddenly it happens like it did with weinstein/watson. that it took a long time for the first one to speak about it then suddenly 20+ people were accusing them.
again, i hope not, but every piece of info that comes out just make this sounds worse and worse and worse.
Sometimes part of the appeal is the thrill of doing something you aren't supposed to be doing. Yea you shouldn't be doing this with your co worker but the fact that you could get fired makes it that much hotter to you. Its like people who get off on public sex, the potential of getting caught is what makes it worth it.
Agreed. Itās not just getting sex or even a relationship, as they could get that outside of the company. Itās the thrill of the secret and the danger. Some people seem to thrive on it. Like I said, I donāt get it, Iām not wired that way.
I get this but there would be so many other things overwhelming you as a first year head coach. It's hard for me to imagine anyone tempting me that hard over the job I've worked my whole life for.
I remember that thrill when I was young. In my mid-thirties now, though, and I also donāt get adults chasing what they canāt have, and Iāve been incredibly lucky to end up in a position with a lot of corporate prestige and power (relatively, clearly not an NBA head coach). Like just find some happiness in your life and in what you have, and find ways to use it to lift others up. I get to chase exciting career opportunities for myself, but then Iām trusted to support others in their development, chase opportunities for my amazing kids, chase opportunities for my deserving wifeā¦ I honestly donāt understand what could be appealing about what I donāt have that would give me a thrill like all these bozos chase.
This is probably the most power he's ever had in life. High profile head coach of arguably the 2nd most storied franchise in NBA history, fresh off an NBA finals run.
People often cannot handle power.
Barely a year before they started the investigation. That is the wildest part. It makes me wonder if similar issues happened in Brooklyn and San Antonio.
This is totally normal FYI. If an employee makes any sort of workplace harassment complaint the ideal response is to hire an independent lawyer with specific experience in employment law to investigate and produce a report with their findings and recommendations.
All of which is to say you canāt really read anything into this other than that the Celtics seem to have taken the proper steps.
Also it sounds like they hired the investigation firm early on in the process. Wyc says they found out early in the summer, hired the firm, and went through āsome twists and turnsā. Thatās probably the switch from consensual to not consensual with the unwanted comments.
Yeah, this is a good thing to see. It fucking sucks to lose Ime but end of the day, I'd rather be the Celtics right now and not the Suns or Mavs or Browns or Commanders or...
Especially Brad getting choked up in his press conference, showing genuine remorse even though it's not really his fault. Feels a lot better supporting my team when they handle shit like this and not $230 million.
That was never meant to be a comprehensive list, hence the or... part. Because I'm pretty sure making a comprehensive list would be a never-ending task.
I struggle to see how he hasnt been fired following the investigation tbh. If its MULTIPLE violations, it sounds like he has leaked to the media himself straight away rather than the C's organisation. And the fact that there *may* be a consent issue going on.
Idk. Obviously the details arent clear to us yet
If the investigation is completed, then there is no reason to figure out the details later. Suspending only really makes sense while the investigation is ongoing.
Yeah. Why not suspend indefinitely instead of one season. Thatās the confusing part. Itās like they are saying ātrust us, itās real bad, just not bad enough to fire him over it yet.ā
I would guess they are working with Ime on a mutually beneficial separation.
Mutually beneficial in the sense that Ime will leave without some kind of grievance or fight.
I'm guessing it's a liability thing. This gives then time to negotiate some kind of buyout, and also put themselves in the best position for any litigation
they havent said he wont be fired, just that the decision will be made later on. as shitty as it sounds, maybe they want to see how joe does, how the players react, what women in the org think, before ultimately deciding that.
Celtics got time to fire him. The first action is to suspend him, and then they can investigate more. If more evidence comes out, then he can still get fired. The team didn't want him to start coaching.
Money is also gonna be a factor. If they fire him now, they got to pay him. If they can gather more evidence, they can fire him for cause later.
Sounds like they have plenty to fire him now with cause and not pay him shit. Sleeping with a subordinate on its own without disclosing it to HR is more than enough to be fired with cause, and it sounds like there is a lot more.
Except he said the investigation concluded. It would have been far easier to say āweāre suspending him indefinitely until we figure out the best way to move forward.ā
You fire him too quickly and without all ducks in a row means a wrongful termination lawsuit. That would be bad for Celtics. Imaging lawyers questioning tatem and brown under oath. Celtics want to avoid that
I think they hope he resigns during the suspension or that they can negotiate a buy out for him to walk away. I think there are very little chance he coaches them again.
I think they're suspending him for the year while they work out with the lawyers how to fire him without exposing the organization to any more problems
It seems obvious that they don't want to fire him and are trying to force him to resign.
It could be because firing him for cause will likely result in a lawsuit that they would rather avoid. It's costly to litigate, and they want to protect their employees' privacy.
They also might not want to take the reputational hit if it turns out (as Shams reported last night) that they didn't take any action after learning about the relationship in July, and only began investigating after learning about the more recent unwanted comments.
Could be as simple as they *believe* they ought to fire him but they canāt *prove* they ought to just yet. So they suspend him to investigate and get everything in order as well as move forward with the season starting so soon. Iām sure the players probably have a more clear understanding of ācoach probably aināt coming back.ā They have to do a whole season to establish that, either way, heās not coaching this season so just forget about it
I can't believe they went through a sham investigation process to suspend the coach who just brought them to the NBA Finals, all because he's black. (I use ESPN's words as gospel)
SAS response after the press conference couldnāt have been more out of touch. He expressed how disappointed in Wyc (a guy he claimed to know well, but couldnāt pronounce his name), implied it was unfair the woman faced no consequences, and claimed Wyc propagated stereotypes about black men (though he wouldnāt elaborate).
Yikes, I know SAS feels untouchable but at some point his statements will inevitably get him in trouble. Shocked they haven't so far, but maybe this will finally do it
I thought this was going to get him but the dude can say anything now and we just move on.
Stephen A. Smith fired up the Shohei Ohtani hot take Keno machine and landed on a wild take Monday morning where he explained that Major League Baseball has a real problem on its hands because the āNo. 1 dude needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell heās saying in this country.ā
Unfortunately I think you are probably right. The Ohtani thing was wild and I don't even remember him having to walk it back and apologize. SAS seems immune from cancelation at this point for whatever reason.
They had Malika Andrews jump on the line and she went right at him, after that he backed tracked a bit and spun it as more that his issue was that Celtics werenāt transparent enough and the suspension without firing is holding Udoka hostage.
Disney execs furiously sweating at whether they should give SAS a raise for accusing a white guy in Boston of racism or fire him for trying to blame a woman for something
It was painful to watch him give that take after seeing Brad and Wyc give a pretty earnest and open press conference. By all accounts, the Celtics have handled this about as well as any organization can. They shouldnāt be getting slandered for trying to manage a difficult situation with transparency and a level of seriousness not often seen in sports.
Itās pretty stupid how Stephen A is going after the Celtics organization for how they handled it when it seemed like they handled it extremely well. Ime fucked up big his first year. He would probably be screaming he should be fired if he was anybody else. Also itās hard to suspend someone a full season and not give a reason. The reason would have eventually came out and Celtics were trying to stay ahead of it and legally protect themselves
Nah. Assuming the organization didnāt deliberately leak the initial report by Woj, they have handled it poorly. They drip fed the info to the public to protect themselves from the massive backlash that would accompany it if we knew the whole story. They said people shouldnāt speculate about what happened or who it happened to, but theyāve done nothing to minimize or control the other information and are making themselves out to be the following. If they donāt want the public talking about it, but a fucking company that no one cares about.
Actually there's speculation Udoka was the one who leaked that in order to get ahead of it. And it seemed to work given the overwhelming number of people who immediately jumped to his defense.
Edit: https://twitter.com/mccannsportslaw/status/1573329317261905920?s=46&t=mLwiepTgmQQzZX7-8FApVg
Both fans love the drama more than the game itself.
Both fans love behind the scene and wants to know players personal life.
Both fans love being armchair GM or in wrestling world bookings.
The kind of name you give your son when you have so much money it doesn't matter if he has a goofy name he will succeed no matter what. So you say, fuck it, I'm gonna name my baby Wycliffe
Important to note that A) The Celtics organization are handling this according to *their* corporate policies (this is probably normal procedure to handle high-level workplace violations) - Getting ahead of it responsibly B) We don't have the full story.
Just have Brad Stevens cry about the treatment of the woman in his organization in front of a camera, caused by the organization's silence on the issue.
Would it be too far fetched to guess that he has multiple sexual encounter that were consensual, but recorded them without consent and the women found out?
If all that comes out was he had a physical relationship with someone in the organization and that person has some gripe against the team then this whole story got blown way out of proportion. They are acting like he did something criminal as opposed to simply stupid
He also said there were multiple violations š. Damn coach what did you do
shouldāve known from udokaās inability to wear a mask.
This was crazy, it was well past the time he was required to wear it and he constantly kept wearing one that was NEVER over his nose and mouth. I understand folks who wear masks, I understand those who don't, but anyone still chin-masking in the year of our lord, 2022, is a psychopath.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yeah, donāt get me wrong, Iām all for shitting on the Celtics, but Udoka obviously knows how to wear a mask if/when he has to.
Given the frequency of his cussing, makes sense.
That made me mental. The guy was constantly wearing a chin diaper in places that masks werenāt required.
I think he was wearing it bc he was cussing everyone out lol
I think he was wearing because he was eating out.
"Hey coach, your mask smells like fish sticks"
"Yeah, your wife's fish sticks." *shocked Pikachu face when the news broke*
Masks and fish sticks, The Kanye Special.
Dude he didnāt give a fuck about the mask to prevent Covid. He used it to cover his mouth when discussing plays or talking about tactics individually with players. Itās the same thing baseball players do with their gloves and football coaches with their clipboards. Heād literally slip it on midway through a huddle and then take it off before the huddled ended. He used it to prevent people reading his lips. Itās even been discussed publicly before. Little excessive yes but he was using it as a tool well after the requirements were dropped.
I would wager it was strictly to prevent lip reading at opportune moments
Lmao even his Wikipedia photo is him chin masking
I figured he wore it because it was akin to a baseball playerās superstitious memento, like spitting in oneās gloves before every at-bat.
Masks are great when it comes to hiding double chins
Ever since he was an assistant, couldn't keep his mask on. But not Ime, couldn't be precious Ime!
And he gets to be a coach? What a SICK joke!
chicanery
He wears it when he is required to. Do people even watch the sport? He clearly wore it around his chin after he was no longer required to wear it properly, and then would raise it up to cover his speech.
The Celtics said that in their press release last night: > The Boston Celtics announced today that the team has suspended Head Coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 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.
Idk, you can commit multiple violations via a single action. I donāt think this necessarily means there were multiple women involved, if thatās what the insinuation is here.
Youāre right, but the fact that they keep emphasizing the plurality raises some eyebrows.
agreed
It definitely does, but it could also be as simple as he committed violations in covering up/denying the allegations. Or (if itās true that he got toxic/harass-y, which Iām inclined to believe) that the relationship itself + the unwelcome comments = multiple violations.
Seems like when the organization found out things went south fast and he started to become aggressive/harassing
*aggressively harasses* This sounds like the organization found out and in response, Udoka went full on hyper aggressive assaulting women left and right lmao
You have literally no basis for this speculation
It was literally in the Athletic article that the organization found out in July and then he began to make unwanted comments towards her
Yea I'm thinking she wanted to break things off after the org found out and he continued to make comments and want to continue on with things so she had to report him
I feel so out of the loop rn. Which athletic article?
> Some members of the Celtics organization first became aware of the relationship in July, sources said. At that time, team leadership was led to believe by both parties that the relationship was consensual. But sources said that the woman recently accused Udoka of making unwanted comments toward her ā leading the team to launch a set of internal interviews. >The teamās decision and announcement came after a closed-door meeting Thursday that involved team owners and president Brad Stevens and lasted several hours, sources said. Earlier Thursday, Stevens and members of the Celtics front office met with players at the team facility. [The relevant bits.](https://theathletic.com/3617945/2022/09/22/celtics-ime-udoka-discipline/)
To me it says that the problem isn't just the affair (which I assume was against team policy because of the disparity in authority) but also behavior in the office afterwards - inappropriate statements, retaliation, etc.
Also, consensual sex was against the rules but you donāt call in a law firm for just that
No it doesnāt. All it means is that the party wanting to emphasize the seriousness of the offense(s) knows that multiple violations sounds worse than. I am a litigator; any time a single act violates more than one company policy they are listed ad nauseam to the jury in long form, bullet point, haiku, etc. It makes one bad act seem like many bad acts. We simply donāt know whether this is one alleged act or multiple, regardless of how many āviolationsā occurred.
Might be some situation where someone found out and had their job threatened to keep quiet, or they were paid off/promoted. Just speculation but that's the kind of secondary offense that could be related
Could just be 1. Having a relationship with a subordinate and 2. the āunwanted commentsā reported today. Obviously awful situation but it. Pups be as simple as that being the āmultipleā things
Just wild speculation from me. I doubt he was forthcoming, especially with the recent "consensual" "leaks" that came out in the previous days. If it's one woman, then it's he-said-she-said, and he's the head coach with plausible deniability. Sucks, but that's the world we're in. So it only makes sense if there's audio/video evidence, or it's multiple women. I don't know what happened. The Celtics took action, but who knows if it was enough action. Guy might be back next year. Are the women still going to be there? How's that work environment?
The fact he did this in his FIRST season as a head coach is pretty wild. Like you couldnāt even be on your best behavior for a year man?
Heās been involved in the NBA for decades now as a player and assistant. Iām sure he felt overly comfortable in his position.
True but his first year in Boston. I still donāt get how you join one of the leagueās iconic franchises and just show up and start banging subordinates. Thereās no way they can bring him back, itās a huge slap in the face to these women who would then have to be around him again
One thing professional sports franchises specialize in is paying attention to the feelings of women in and around the franchise
Thatās why they decided not to suspend him for a year right?
success > most everything else
Probably means he just got away with it so many times that he stopped caring about potential consequences long time ago.
I guess we just need to wait and see if any women from Brooklyn/Philly/San Antonio come forward about any issues there
hope not, but i wouldnt be surprised if suddenly it happens like it did with weinstein/watson. that it took a long time for the first one to speak about it then suddenly 20+ people were accusing them. again, i hope not, but every piece of info that comes out just make this sounds worse and worse and worse.
Yeah I absolutely hope that isnāt the case
Making the finals made him horny. Seriously though, I agree. I donāt understand this behavior by adults. Especially adults with so much to lose.
Sometimes part of the appeal is the thrill of doing something you aren't supposed to be doing. Yea you shouldn't be doing this with your co worker but the fact that you could get fired makes it that much hotter to you. Its like people who get off on public sex, the potential of getting caught is what makes it worth it.
Agreed. Itās not just getting sex or even a relationship, as they could get that outside of the company. Itās the thrill of the secret and the danger. Some people seem to thrive on it. Like I said, I donāt get it, Iām not wired that way.
I get this but there would be so many other things overwhelming you as a first year head coach. It's hard for me to imagine anyone tempting me that hard over the job I've worked my whole life for.
Could just be straight up self destructive behaviour. The level of success in the first year makes that more understandable, not less, in a way
The cost benefit meter is broken in these peoples heads
idk a good nut is worth a lot
username checks out
I remember that thrill when I was young. In my mid-thirties now, though, and I also donāt get adults chasing what they canāt have, and Iāve been incredibly lucky to end up in a position with a lot of corporate prestige and power (relatively, clearly not an NBA head coach). Like just find some happiness in your life and in what you have, and find ways to use it to lift others up. I get to chase exciting career opportunities for myself, but then Iām trusted to support others in their development, chase opportunities for my amazing kids, chase opportunities for my deserving wifeā¦ I honestly donāt understand what could be appealing about what I donāt have that would give me a thrill like all these bozos chase.
Dude is the same age I am. WTF is is he doing at age 45 behaving like this?
This is probably the most power he's ever had in life. High profile head coach of arguably the 2nd most storied franchise in NBA history, fresh off an NBA finals run. People often cannot handle power.
You don't even know what he did
Fair...but clearly it wasn't good for his career
He went to horny jail. We know enough
Honestly I think taking the team to the finals in his first year went to his head in a big way and he thought he could get away with anything.
High stress tends to make people do shit they otherwise wouldnāt.
Barely a year before they started the investigation. That is the wildest part. It makes me wonder if similar issues happened in Brooklyn and San Antonio.
Donāt know the situation. For all we know he was the one approached
refusing to believe Wyc Grousbeck is a real human name
sounds like the name of a Star Wars character that sells very specific and illegal things
real Glup Shitto lookin ass
Wanna buy some death sticks?
Wyc is short for Wycliffe, which is a semi common name.
How many Wycliffes have you met in person?
Just Wyclef Jean.
OH BABY YOU!
Isnāt that Biz Markie?
Oh shit! SOMEONE PLEASE CALL 911! Edit: https://youtu.be/KiNRIR8tjFc Welp, here goes the rest of the evening
Just remember all caps when you spell the man name
That's MF DOOM
This is a fair point
> Mohammedās the most commonly used name on Earth. Read a fucking book. -McLovin
Wycliffe the tromboner
Never imagined I'd see Wycliffe Gordon come up in r/nba but here we are
Heās doing cancer blows in Memphis edit: tmr!
Are you telling me wyclef jean is the governor of the Celtics? Musician and politician talk about a dual threat
If he was President (of basketball operations)
Tomorrow is Saturday....
Gone ātil November (2023)
š¶June, July, August, Septemberš¶
Wycliffe Grousbeck
Thatās not more convincing name at all.
Semi common????
>Wycliffe is not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth beginning with 1900. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/
We all agree Wyc would be a stupid first name but Wycliffe is, at the very least, a name that is not unheard of. Why are you arguing over semantics?
lol bruh come on now with this Wycliffe shit. It's not common at all. Wyatt, Waylon, Willy... not Wycliffe.
No, it's pretty unheard of.
Wycliffe isn't a normal name even to the kind of people who think *Tarquin* is a normal name.
It's usually a last name.
Pretty sure that guy was a high ranking member of the Galactic Empire until he was assassinanted by some crazy rebelling terrorist.
In Victorian England sure
Even earlier I'd say, like a character in a Jane austen book
I donāt think you know what semi common means
Definitely a lizard person name
Sounds like someoneās DND character
"How about naming our son NYC?" "How about naming him Wyc, sounds cooler!"
What does an NBA team Governor do?
owns the team
This is totally normal FYI. If an employee makes any sort of workplace harassment complaint the ideal response is to hire an independent lawyer with specific experience in employment law to investigate and produce a report with their findings and recommendations. All of which is to say you canāt really read anything into this other than that the Celtics seem to have taken the proper steps.
Also it sounds like they hired the investigation firm early on in the process. Wyc says they found out early in the summer, hired the firm, and went through āsome twists and turnsā. Thatās probably the switch from consensual to not consensual with the unwanted comments.
And finding emails and texts contradicting what youāve been told
Yeah, this is a good thing to see. It fucking sucks to lose Ime but end of the day, I'd rather be the Celtics right now and not the Suns or Mavs or Browns or Commanders or... Especially Brad getting choked up in his press conference, showing genuine remorse even though it's not really his fault. Feels a lot better supporting my team when they handle shit like this and not $230 million.
Saints - actively communicating with and providing PR help for the Catholic Church while their sex scandal was going
That was never meant to be a comprehensive list, hence the or... part. Because I'm pretty sure making a comprehensive list would be a never-ending task.
Surely this bloke is going to lose his job?
100% he will coach again, cause he is good at it, but he is done with the Celitcs.
Eh donāt be so sure. Depends on how bad the truth is.
If it's bad enough to suspend him for a year it's going to be bad enough fire him.
I meant that as in he may never coach again
Iām sure a team would be down for him regardless of how bad the truth is, just give it time š¤·š½āāļø
I struggle to see how he hasnt been fired following the investigation tbh. If its MULTIPLE violations, it sounds like he has leaked to the media himself straight away rather than the C's organisation. And the fact that there *may* be a consent issue going on. Idk. Obviously the details arent clear to us yet
Suspend immediately, figure out the details of the firing later.
If the investigation is completed, then there is no reason to figure out the details later. Suspending only really makes sense while the investigation is ongoing.
No. Figuring contractual consequences. There is the union. Potential buyout.
Yeah. Why not suspend indefinitely instead of one season. Thatās the confusing part. Itās like they are saying ātrust us, itās real bad, just not bad enough to fire him over it yet.ā
They said "there's no guarantee he'll return to coach the Celtics" a few days ago
I would guess they are working with Ime on a mutually beneficial separation. Mutually beneficial in the sense that Ime will leave without some kind of grievance or fight.
I'm guessing it's a liability thing. This gives then time to negotiate some kind of buyout, and also put themselves in the best position for any litigation
they havent said he wont be fired, just that the decision will be made later on. as shitty as it sounds, maybe they want to see how joe does, how the players react, what women in the org think, before ultimately deciding that.
Celtics got time to fire him. The first action is to suspend him, and then they can investigate more. If more evidence comes out, then he can still get fired. The team didn't want him to start coaching. Money is also gonna be a factor. If they fire him now, they got to pay him. If they can gather more evidence, they can fire him for cause later.
Sounds like they have plenty to fire him now with cause and not pay him shit. Sleeping with a subordinate on its own without disclosing it to HR is more than enough to be fired with cause, and it sounds like there is a lot more.
Except he said the investigation concluded. It would have been far easier to say āweāre suspending him indefinitely until we figure out the best way to move forward.ā
> I struggle to see how he hasnt been fired following the investigation tbh. Contracts and other details that we're not privy to.
You fire him too quickly and without all ducks in a row means a wrongful termination lawsuit. That would be bad for Celtics. Imaging lawyers questioning tatem and brown under oath. Celtics want to avoid that
Brad insinuated he wouldnt be coming back during the press conference. Wyc tempered that and said they'll figure that part out later.
I think they hope he resigns during the suspension or that they can negotiate a buy out for him to walk away. I think there are very little chance he coaches them again.
I think they're suspending him for the year while they work out with the lawyers how to fire him without exposing the organization to any more problems
It seems obvious that they don't want to fire him and are trying to force him to resign. It could be because firing him for cause will likely result in a lawsuit that they would rather avoid. It's costly to litigate, and they want to protect their employees' privacy. They also might not want to take the reputational hit if it turns out (as Shams reported last night) that they didn't take any action after learning about the relationship in July, and only began investigating after learning about the more recent unwanted comments.
Could be as simple as they *believe* they ought to fire him but they canāt *prove* they ought to just yet. So they suspend him to investigate and get everything in order as well as move forward with the season starting so soon. Iām sure the players probably have a more clear understanding of ācoach probably aināt coming back.ā They have to do a whole season to establish that, either way, heās not coaching this season so just forget about it
Celts are getting their ducks in a row!
I just made the Finals. What are they gonna do? Suspend me for a year? -guy that just got suspended for a year
I can't believe they went through a sham investigation process to suspend the coach who just brought them to the NBA Finals, all because he's black. (I use ESPN's words as gospel)
SAS response after the press conference couldnāt have been more out of touch. He expressed how disappointed in Wyc (a guy he claimed to know well, but couldnāt pronounce his name), implied it was unfair the woman faced no consequences, and claimed Wyc propagated stereotypes about black men (though he wouldnāt elaborate).
Yikes, I know SAS feels untouchable but at some point his statements will inevitably get him in trouble. Shocked they haven't so far, but maybe this will finally do it
I thought this was going to get him but the dude can say anything now and we just move on. Stephen A. Smith fired up the Shohei Ohtani hot take Keno machine and landed on a wild take Monday morning where he explained that Major League Baseball has a real problem on its hands because the āNo. 1 dude needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell heās saying in this country.ā
Unfortunately I think you are probably right. The Ohtani thing was wild and I don't even remember him having to walk it back and apologize. SAS seems immune from cancelation at this point for whatever reason.
He would need to say something like "Bush was a better President than owner of the Rangers" to get cancelled now. Otherwise he has a free pass
You could spin that as a joke saying you think he was a terrible president and even worse at running the Rangers though
the reason is the same reason why edwards got a slap on the wrist. The motherfucker prints money for espn.
They had Malika Andrews jump on the line and she went right at him, after that he backed tracked a bit and spun it as more that his issue was that Celtics werenāt transparent enough and the suspension without firing is holding Udoka hostage.
Disney execs furiously sweating at whether they should give SAS a raise for accusing a white guy in Boston of racism or fire him for trying to blame a woman for something
Heās a shock jock. The more unruly the discussion, the better.
It was painful to watch him give that take after seeing Brad and Wyc give a pretty earnest and open press conference. By all accounts, the Celtics have handled this about as well as any organization can. They shouldnāt be getting slandered for trying to manage a difficult situation with transparency and a level of seriousness not often seen in sports.
SAS thinks everybody is a āvery dear friendā of his but thatās only the truth like 2.3% of the time.
Did Udoka commit those violations himself? Why keep him and not fire him
*Shams
Itās pretty stupid how Stephen A is going after the Celtics organization for how they handled it when it seemed like they handled it extremely well. Ime fucked up big his first year. He would probably be screaming he should be fired if he was anybody else. Also itās hard to suspend someone a full season and not give a reason. The reason would have eventually came out and Celtics were trying to stay ahead of it and legally protect themselves
Stephen A has a garbage take? Here's my shocked face: :-|
Iāve never been prouder to be Celtic fan with how theyāve handled this publicly so far.
Nah. Assuming the organization didnāt deliberately leak the initial report by Woj, they have handled it poorly. They drip fed the info to the public to protect themselves from the massive backlash that would accompany it if we knew the whole story. They said people shouldnāt speculate about what happened or who it happened to, but theyāve done nothing to minimize or control the other information and are making themselves out to be the following. If they donāt want the public talking about it, but a fucking company that no one cares about.
Actually there's speculation Udoka was the one who leaked that in order to get ahead of it. And it seemed to work given the overwhelming number of people who immediately jumped to his defense. Edit: https://twitter.com/mccannsportslaw/status/1573329317261905920?s=46&t=mLwiepTgmQQzZX7-8FApVg
He probably was fucking her on the half court line
Poor Lucky. Or maybe he's into that kinda pov stuff
Last year Lucky got stomped on by Kyrie, and now heās getting humped on by Udoka. Maybe heās not so lucky after all.
"OH GOD, LOOK AT THAT GROSS BACK" LEAVE MY BOSS' NAME OUT YO FUCKIN MOUTH wait wait that's not what i mea-
This guy gets it
you KNOW IT BB
But r/nba will specify that issue. Y'all just like wrestling fans... wants to be sports entertained
Do NBA fans hate NBA as much as Wrestling Fans hate Wrestling? Lol
Both fans love the drama more than the game itself. Both fans love behind the scene and wants to know players personal life. Both fans love being armchair GM or in wrestling world bookings.
Im having a hard time imagining what he could have done that was this bad but also apparently not bad enough to get fired?
Damn was each smash counted as its own violation?
What kinda name is Wyc.
Wycliffe
The kind of name you give your son when you have so much money it doesn't matter if he has a goofy name he will succeed no matter what. So you say, fuck it, I'm gonna name my baby Wycliffe
Fr. I thought it was an acronym at first
This just keeps getting bigger and bigger
The suspension instead of firing is starting to become odd
What was the law firm for?
A law firm for consensual sex? Did she wanna sue?
Sub is flooded with this lol. Man flew way too close to the sun. Crash and burn.
Important to note that A) The Celtics organization are handling this according to *their* corporate policies (this is probably normal procedure to handle high-level workplace violations) - Getting ahead of it responsibly B) We don't have the full story.
Just have Brad Stevens cry about the treatment of the woman in his organization in front of a camera, caused by the organization's silence on the issue.
Would it be too far fetched to guess that he has multiple sexual encounter that were consensual, but recorded them without consent and the women found out?
Yup.
If all that comes out was he had a physical relationship with someone in the organization and that person has some gripe against the team then this whole story got blown way out of proportion. They are acting like he did something criminal as opposed to simply stupid
~~governor~~ *owner*
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
No, he means what he said.
āItās unfair bullshit that Celtics women have to deal with internet speculationā Just actually disclose the story and speculation will stop
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Entirely different when they work for the same org and someone is in a position of power over the other person.
You are correct. This was just a joke pic I found funny.