Ime Udoka, suspended by the Celtics for the entire 2022-23 season for having an affair with a married staff member, has been named a possible head coaching candidate for vacancies with the Rockets and Pistons, according to ESPN.
ESPN reported Sunday that the Rockets declined to pick up Silas’ fourth-year option. Dwane Casey stepped down as Pistons coach after five seasons and a 17-65 campaign this year.
Udoka’s future with the Celtics — already in question with the suspension — became clearer when the organization removed the interim label from Joe Mazzulla, who replaced Udoka after the alleged code of conduct violation — that included sending inappropriate text messages and a “volume of violations” — and suspension, in February.
When Udoka was suspended by the Celtics in September, the organization said in a statement that his future with the team would be determined “at a later date.”
Udoka emerged as an candidate for the Nets opening when Brooklyn fired Steve Nash earlier this season, but backlash followed and the team opted to instead hire Jacque Vaughn by removing his interim label.
Udoka’s coaching career began as an assistant in San Antonio, where he spent seven years on Gregg Popovich’s staff before adding a year with the 76ers and a year with the Nets.
Ime Udoka has been suspended for the entire 2022-23 season by the Boston Celtics.Getty Images
Then, ahead of the 2021-22 season, the Celtics hired Udoka, and he guided them to the NBA Finals in his first year as a head coach.
But by the end of September, just three months after the Celtics lost to the Warriors, Udoka had been suspended.
He had been in a relationship with actress Nia Long since 2010, but after the alleged affair, People reported in December that the pair broke up after 13 years, and one son, together.
Ime Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA finals in his first season as head coach, but he was suspended three months later.Getty Images
With Udoka suspended this year, Mazzulla led the Celtics to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, and they’ll face the team that emerges as the No. 7 seed from the play-in tournament.
A simple question, but a significant one for the Nets: Why was Ime Udoka suspended?
Why did the Celtics ban their head coach for a year? Why would Boston allow a prized coach, coming off a breakout season that fell two wins shy of an NBA title, to leave for an Eastern Conference rival?
As the Nets apparently search their hearts and search for a new head coach, they must be searching for the specifics of the case, too. Why is Udoka not coaching right now? If he wants to replace the fired Steve Nash, Udoka should have to explain himself and the situation in which he finds himself.
Because whatever thoughts that you, as a Nets fan or as a basketball fan, hold about Udoka are uninformed. A high-profile suspension that lacks real precedent also lacks publicly available facts. The only official statement from the Celtics stated Udoka was banned for “violations of team policies” and did not elaborate.
Ime Udoka led Marcus Smart and the Celtics all the way to Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals.NBAE via Getty Images
Udoka’s downfall was as stunning as it was suppressed. Let’s follow the series of reports that told the world much more about the outcome than about Udoka’s offenses:
— At 10:35 p.m. on Sept. 21, six days before the Celtics’ first practice of training camp, ESPN reported Udoka was facing “possible disciplinary action — including a significant suspension — for an unspecified violation of organizational guidelines.”
— A few hours later, at 12:50 a.m. on Sept. 22, The Athletic reported Udoka had an “improper intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the team staff.”
— As the world woke up in the morning, ESPN matched that report by stating, “Udoka is likely facing a suspension for the entire 2022-2023 season for his role in a consensual relationship with a female staff member.”
— That word — “consensual” — then began to disappear from the most prominent reports. The Worldwide Leader’s version of the story dropped it, stating Udoka was involved in an “intimate relationship.”
— The Athletic reported some in the Celtics organization learned about the relationship in July and believed it to be consensual. That belief reportedly changed shortly before the suspension, when the woman accused Udoka of “making unwanted comments toward her.”
Celtics president Brad Stevens (left) and owner Wyc Grousbeck announced a year-long suspension for Udoka for violations of team policies, the nature of which remain shrouded in privacy and mystery.AP
— ESPN followed by citing the independent law firm the Celtics hired to investigate, which found Udoka “used crude language in his dialogue with a female subordinate prior to the start of an improper workplace relationship with the woman.”
— On Sept. 23, Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens held a solemn news conference in which they revealed few specifics, but decried the speculation that had led to a witch hunt among female Celtics employees. The duo said the team was alerted of “a potential situation” involving Udoka over the summer, which led to the hiring of a firm that had finished its probe days earlier. Based on the findings, the Celtics suspended Udoka for one year, which was “well-warranted” and “backed by substantial research and evidence and fact,” Grousbeck said.
A little over six weeks later, much has changed, but the world does not know much more about Udoka. The 7-3 Celtics have thrived early in the season under interim coach Joe Mazzulla. On Nov. 1, after a 2-5 start, the Nets fired Nash and immediately were linked to Udoka, a former Nets assistant who is known to be close to Kevin Durant.
Eight days later, the Nets still do not have a head coach and reportedly are vetting Udoka. According to The Post’s Brian Lewis, Udoka was suspended for “having an affair with a married staff member, sending inappropriate text messages and a ‘volume of violations.’”
The Nets, who collect scandals rather than trophies, already are enmeshed in the Kyrie Irving controversy with a star guard who would not directly state he is not antisemitic. The backlash is coming from all sides, as one organization has managed to upset multiple marginalized groups. There are “strong voices” urging Nets owner Joe Tsai not to hire Udoka, NBA insider Marc Stein reported Monday. Lewis reported the Nets are believed to have held a meeting in which “several female staff members expressed concerns” about the potential hire.
Udoka was a Nets assistant coach during the 2020-21 season, and he established a rapport with Kevin Durant.NBAE via Getty Images
So, what do we know? Udoka was suspended for violating Celtics rules; he was involved with a female staffer in a relationship that may or may not have been consensual; he made “unwanted” or “crude” comments toward her, though the circumstances and the content of those comments are under wraps.
This account is not intended at all as a defense of Udoka, whose transgressions were significant enough to force his own team to (mostly) cut ties with its well-respected, rising head coach. But it is impossible for fans to know whether his sins eventually can be forgiven without knowing the exact nature and degree of those sins.
If the Nets believe Udoka is the answer to their on-court problems, they need to have a full accounting of what led the Celtics to take Udoka off the court. We do not know what happened, but he cannot become the Nets’ head coach without publicly answering every question to explain why he is no longer the Celtics’ head coach.
What is more dangerous: riding on an all-terrain vehicle or practicing football?
The heavy bet here is the latter.
Xavier McKinney had played every snap for the Giants through eight games before he was injured in a non-football activity during the team’s bye week.Noah K. Murray
Giants safety Xavier McKinney broke multiple fingers in an accident in Mexico during the bye week, when he was riding an off-road vehicle.
McKinney told reporters Tuesday at Giants practice that he underwent surgery and did not yet have a timeline for his return. He repeatedly stated he was enjoying a sight-seeing tour and did not want to reveal whether he was driving or a passenger in the ATV.
The injury is a brutal one for a player who has not missed a snap this season and for a 6-2 team fighting for a playoff spot. Off-field injuries particularly irritate fans and teams, who want the players focused on the Super Bowl mission at all times.
But this is football, a blood sport in which bodies clash and bones are broken every week. McKinney just as easily could have injured himself training. Instead, he tried to escape the weekly pain for one idle week and found pain anyway.
There will be a portion of fans who criticize McKinney, but the hope here is that contingent will be small. Football players should be allowed to live their lives, especially in a game that is so much about pain.
The upside-down NBA
Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James can barely stand to watch the Lakers’ latest loss, which dropped the team to 2-8.AP
After three weeks of play, these teams would not qualify for the postseason if the NBA season ended today:
The 76ers (5-6) would be the last team in the Eastern Conference play-in.
It is early enough to qualify these as slow starts rather than reasons to panic, but there is a common link involving aging stars. Stephen Curry (34) is not washed up. LeBron James (37) is still phenomenal. Jimmy Butler (33) probably will remember how to shoot again. Kevin Durant (34) has been playing arguably the best basketball of his career.
But teams with established stars do not have the luxury of waiting too long to avoid wasting a season. Anthony Davis trade rumors already have begun in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the “tanking” Jazz (9-3) are atop the West. What a strange start to the season.
In so many ways, Bruce Reznick is one of a kind. He is 86, and nearly lives at basketball arenas. He has seen thousands of sporting events, from watching Jackie Robinson steal home to witnessing the greatness of Kevin Durant nightly. He is beloved by those he meets and many who watch from afar.
And then there is this oddity: The man known as Mr. Whammy remains a proud Nets fan who loves the organization.
The popular fixture who sits (and stands) behind the basket at Barclays Center, from where he tries to hex opposing foul shooters, is sticking by a Nets team that has invited controversy at every turn. The concern dearest to Whammy, though, surrounds Kyrie Irving, who last week used his social media to plug a movie that includes antisemitic tropes.
Whammy, as we will call him, is Jewish, and said he has written Irving a letter, which will be sent to the Nets.
“Hopefully when he reads my letter, he should understand how he should act,” Whammy said over the phone Wednesday, speaking from his day job at his Brooklyn law office. “I think it’s very important that he understand his position — and change.”
Forgive Whammy for being an optimist. The most prominent Nets fan on the planet believes his team’s star point guard — who has not spoken to the media since a Saturday night face-off in which he defended his conspiracy-laden social media posts — can learn from his mistakes, say he’s sorry and move forward.
Nets superfan Bruce Reznick, aka Mr. Whammy, has a letter ready to deliver to Kyrie Irving, who issued a statement Wednesday saying he did not “believe everything” in the controversial documentary he tweeted out a link to last week.Corey Sipkin
In a statement Wednesday night jointly released with the Nets, Irving did not quite In a statement Wednesday night jointly released with the Nets and the Anti-Defamation League, Irving did not quite apologize — he did say he “take[s] responsibility,” opposes “hatred and oppression” and does not believe “everything said in the documentary” — but attempted to distance himself from this scandal.
Maybe the Nets can proceed, too, and a Steve Nash-less outfit can jell into a title contender. Whammy will be rooting for them. But he might not have much company on that limb.
In the history of sports, has there been a more difficult team to support? Teams such as the 2010-11 Heat (the first of the Big Three era), the 2007 Spygate Patriots and the “Bad Boy” Pistons teams were loathed across their respective leagues — but also loved at home.
The Nets have no such safe space. Nets fans sat courtside Sunday wearing “Fight Antisemitism” shirts aimed at one of the two faces of these Nets. Nash was the head coach then; he since has been ousted, and all indications are the Nets will bring in Ime Udoka, a head coach suspended for the year by the Celtics after an internal investigation discovered an improper, intimate relationship with a female Boston staffer.
The development must have pleased Nets superstar Kevin Durant, who this offseason requested Nash and GM Sean Marks be fired. Durant is still with a team he demanded to be removed from, mostly hearing cheers from a fan base he wants to escape.
Irving’s initial defiance about his Twitter post linking to an antisemitic movie prompted fans to attend the Nets game against the Pacers this week wearing “Fight Antisemitism” shirts.Corey Sipkin
The Nets’ least toxic star, Ben Simmons, is a marvelous talent who cannot shoot, has played in six games and found his way to Brooklyn by refusing to report to his former team.
The Post has reported the Nets are dead last in season-ticket sales. The team is unlikeable, and the play — 2-6 thus far — often has been unwatchable. Their most devoted fans are questioning that devotion.
“I am personally disgusted with the WHOLE situation,” tweeted Bob Windrem, who runs the popular Nets site NetsDaily, after reports began leaking Tuesday that the Nets would replace Nash with Udoka. “[A]nd like a lot of fans I’ve spoken to this morning, I believe it is going to take a long time for us to feel comfortable with this franchise. If ever.”
You won’t hear such talk from Whammy, who is warm to a fault and preaches lessons learned from his parents: “If you show love, you get love.”
He concedes, though, that the faces of the Nets have not embraced the face of their fan base.
Irving “doesn’t talk to me, look at me,” Whammy said, adding that Irving and Durant are still relatively new to the team, and there is plenty of time to endear themselves to the Brooklyn fans.
Mr. Whammy has been a fixture since the 1990s at Nets games, where he has jokingly tried to hex opposing players at the free-throw line.Getty Images
Whammy speaks fondly of Jarrett Allen, who was sent to Cleveland in the failed three-way trade that briefly brought James Harden to Brooklyn. Years ago, Whammy introduced himself to the young big man.
“I said, ‘Do you have grandparents?’ He said, ‘No, but now I do,’” said Whammy, a regular attendee at Nets games since they were based in New Jersey in the 1990s. “Isn’t that beautiful?”
Whammy said he taught Allen to shoot foul shots, and shaky free-throw shooter Nic Claxton will be his next project. Caris LeVert, also part of that trade with the Cavaliers, was a hugger.
“I’m a little depressed that I don’t get the reaction from this team,” said Whammy, who was close enough with Jason Kidd that he attended his 2018 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. “But in time they will.”
Whammy, who will be in Charlotte for Saturday’s Nets-Hornets game, is not giving up on the team. At a time when much of the world and fan base have heard enough, Whammy is keeping the faith and wants to hear once more from Irving.
Reznick says he has not developed the kind of close relationships with some of the players on this Nets roster that he has with past members of the franchise.Paul J. Bereswill
“He should have come forth earlier, but he’s got a chance now,” Whammy said. “It’s never too late to redeem yourself.”
It is a good thing that it is “never too late,” because it is awfully, awfully late for the Nets.
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Cover your bases with more coverage of Wednesday night’s World Series no-hit history:
Speaking of culture issues, two wide receivers requesting trades in the same year does not reflect well on their quarterback.
On Tuesday, Jets GM Joe Douglas placed the responsibility for pacifying Elijah Moore and Denzel Mims — who both wanted out, yet neither was moved by the deadline — on head coach Robert Saleh and his staff. And sure: If the Jets re-engage Moore and Mims, it would speak highly of the people in charge.
It does not reflect well on Zach Wilson, the leader of this Jets offense, that two talented, recent second-round picks do not want to be a part of the team.
Elijah Moore’s inability to find the kind of rhythm with Zach Wilson that he had with Joe Flacco had the second-year wide receiver in search of a trade.Robert Sabo
“Each situation’s mutually exclusive,” Douglas said, though that may not be completely true: If Mims and Moore caught more passes, they likely would be just fine. “We think the world about these guys, and we love them here in New York.”
Moore did not ask for a trade when Joe Flacco — a backup at best at this stage of his career — hooked up for 12 completions and 139 yards in the first three weeks of the season. And if Wilson could utilize the length of the 6-foot-3 Mims, who has been a nonfactor since landing with the Jets in 2020, the former Baylor star would have fewer difficult discussions with Douglas and Saleh.
The Jets are proud of their culture, a fact Douglas made clear: Young players are carrying the team. But it is not a coincidence that the two Jets players publicly displeased are two players reliant on Wilson, who will have to take a leap this season for the Jets to win and for offensive players to want to be a part of that culture.
In honor of Judy Coughlin
Tom Coughlin was as football coach as a football coach gets. He worked on Tom Coughlin Time, always five minutes early. He drilled. He shouted.
And then he would return home to a wife who always was the true boss.
Tom Coughlin and his wife, Judy, after the Giants won the NFC Championship game in January 2008.Getty Images
“Judy was a remarkable woman in every way,” the former two-time Super Bowl champion head coach of the Giants said in a statement. “She lived a life filled with love and unselfishly gave her heart and soul to others. Judy made you feel like an old friend from the first hug to the last. She was a mother to all on and off the field.
“For everyone who knew and loved Judy, the enormity of her absence cannot be put into words, but the immense kindness she showed to others will always endure. Our hearts are broken, but we know she is free from suffering and at peace with our Lord.”
Last year, Coughlin came forward — in a powerful column for the New York Times — to reveal Judy had been diagnosed with a rare brain disease, known as progressive supranuclear palsy. Coughlin had become a caregiver, and Judy was slipping away.
“For the past four years, we’ve helplessly watched her go from a gracious woman with a gift for conversation, hugging all the people she met and making them feel they were the most important person in the room,” Coughlin wrote, “to losing almost all ability to speak and move.”
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