Wyc Grousbeck defends Ime Udoka suspension as 'well warranted and appropriate'

Wyc Grousbeck defends Ime Udoka suspension as 'well warranted and appropriate'

WEEI By Scott McLaughlin

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck strongly disagrees with anyone saying Ime Udoka’s yearlong suspension for violating team rules is too harsh.

In a press conference on Friday, Grousbeck and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens answered questions about Udoka’s suspension for over half an hour.

Grousbeck revealed that the team brought in an independent law firm to conduct an investigation when it became aware of a situation involving Udoka earlier this summer. He said that investigation “had some twists and turns” and wrapped up on Wednesday.

Grousbeck was asked if he had a response to those -- including Paul Pierce and Stephen A. Smith -- who have said the suspension is too harsh, and if the situation featured sexual harassment. He said he could not comment on the sexual harassment question for legal reasons, but he did defend the length of the suspension.

“We have reflected as a group and with outside advisors -- a diverse group, in fact, of people deciding what to do, which I take ultimate responsibility for,” Grousbeck said. “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 expressed, in fact, appreciation. I don’t want to belabor that, but he’s accepting of it and he’s planning to move forward on this basis.”

Grousbeck also confirmed that it was not a one-time misstep from Udoka, saying there were “a couple violations, at least.” He also said that there was a “significant” financial penalty to go along with the suspension, and that no one else in the organization would be facing any punishment.

Grousbeck said Udoka’s suspension officially runs through June 30, 2023. He said no decision has been made about Udoka’s future with the team after that, and was asked what he would need to see in order to accept Udoka back.

“We will make a determination at a later time about Ime’s future with us,” Grousbeck said. “That will be discussed at another time and has not been decided at this point.”

112288

The Celtics conducted a well thought out plan to get to the bottom of this mess by hiring a law firm that most likley handles HR problems of this nature.  The report must have been damming that lead to a vote by the Celtic partners to come to this conclusion and vote for suspension.

It appears to have been a 3 month investigation, and I am sure the Celtic ownership group's last option on a long list of options was to suspend IME. It also seems to have been other behavior beyond this one.

I am sure if there was a way of sweeping it under the rug and privately fine IME while keeping him as coach, they would have done that!   It must have been that serious, and I also think the Celtics will pay this person a hefty settlement so as not to have it exposed in a law suit.

Wyc, also left open the possibility that IME may not be back and that they will assess that later. Translation IME's attorney and the Celtics will settle a buyout agreement. It would be impossible to have him back and working with the person he had this intimate relationsip with.

112288

NBC Sports Boston

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/emotional-brad-stevens-tasked-leading-celtics-through-dark-clouds


Forsberg: Emotional Stevens tasked with leading C's through dark clouds


BY CHRIS FORSBERG


Chris Forsberg

Brad Stevens’ voice trembled near the start of his opening statement.B

“Obviously, it’s been a hard time,” Stevens said Friday as he and Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck held a joint press conference to address the season-long suspension levied to head coach Ime Udoka for his violations of team policies.

Stevens then fought back emotion as he expressed dismay at the “Twitter speculation, rampant bulls---,” that the Celtics’ female staffers endured in the aftermath of reports that Udoka had engaged in an intimate and consensual relationship with a Boston staff member that led to an extensive investigation into his workplace conduct.

Did Stevens consider coaching after Udoka suspension? Here's his answer
The glow that existed 450 days ago when Stevens and Grousbeck first introduced Udoka as the 18th head coach of the Celtics had faded. Stevens looked weathered by this week's proceedings and spoke repeatedly of the tolls it's taken on his organization.

Even before Friday’s half-hour press conference inside the Auerbach Center, some team employees worried about the toll the Udoka saga had already taken on Stevens, this as Stevens tried to steady an organization rocked by its coach’s transgressions.

Remember, the Udoka hire was one of Stevens’ first major decisions after elevating to president of basketball operations last year. A general manager puts his own reputation on the line when deciding who should be the team's next coach. Stevens beamed with hope a year ago with confidence that Udoka could push the core of this team in a way that Stevens no longer could.

Stevens was rewarded when the team took on Udoka’s personality along the wild ride that was the 2021-22 season. Udoka tapped deeper into the potential of superstars like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and held all of his players accountable at every turn while demanding they adhere to the team’s tenets.

Alas, Udoka himself did not. And while he’ll have to deal with the repercussions of his own actions, it’s only natural that Stevens would carry some of that burden. Back at Udoka’s introductory press conference, Stevens gushed how Udoka was, "an authentic, super person.” He marveled at the resolve Udoka showed in grinding until this head coaching opportunity finally emerged.

In his first season, Udoka spoiled his chance. And it’s hard to see him getting another opportunity in green.

The unwavering trust that Stevens had in Udoka, even as the team stumbled out of the gates last season, may have been eroded by this scandal. The team handed Udoka a season-long suspension but it’s hard to envision, in this moment, a pathway to reconciliation. It’s unclear if Udoka can win back the trust of his GM and ownership again considering the turmoil his actions have caused before the start of what should have been a season filled with unbridled optimism.

There was already a lot of work ahead for Stevens with the goal of fine-tuning a roster that’s depth was eroded before summer’s end when Danilo Gallinari tore his ACL in international play. The Celtics will lean heavily on a collection of inexperienced big men at the start of camp with hope that they can at least bridge the gap until starting center Robert Williams can get back on the court after a surgical cleanup of the knee that hindered him during last season's playoff run. Bigger moves could loom near midseason and the trade deadline.

But Stevens’ workload is a little heftier now. He unexpectedly had to find a new coach — promoting assistant Joe Mazzulla to the interim post — and, even with full confidence in Mazzulla’s ability to lead this team — he will need to help the 34-year-old with the minutiae of head coaching life.

"It's not an easy timing for [Mazzulla] or the rest of the staff. But he's an exceptionally sharp and talented person. I believe strongly in him and his ability to lead people, his ability to galvanize a room and get behind him,” said Stevens.

Stevens downplayed the suggestion of whether he considered moving back to the bench this season. He was emphatic while noting, "Joe is the best choice to do that -- by a long shot.”

Yet Stevens knows he’ll have to ease the transition for a coach that was preparing to simply join Udoka’s front-of-the-bench staff.

"I’ve told Joe this: I’m going to be there for him without stepping on his toes as much as he needs, but he doesn’t need much,” said Stevens. "I believe in that strongly. And hopefully I can help him with any questions he has as he goes through it, but sometimes you just need someone who has been there next to you, to be able to go in and let your shoulders down and talk about what you’re going through, and hopefully I can be that for him.”

Stevens’ more immediate goal is making sure all of Boston’s female employees who unfairly had their names invoked the past few days feel supported by the organization. Multiple times Stevens sounded off about the Twitter speculation.

And, yet, he navigated Friday morning’s prickly proceedings with unwavering grace. He was tight-lipped on the investigation into Udoka’s conduct but expressed empathy to everyone impacted by this saga.

Stevens acknowledged that Boston’s players would certainly be impacted by the unexpected loss of their head coach.

"There's a real relationship there with a lot of guys, rightfully so. They had an incredible year last year,” said Stevens. "There’s a care both ways. Human beings are human beings. It's going to be the way it is and to think that guys on the team or coaches or anybody else in the organization can just walk back out on the court and everything is fine is not the way it is.

"I just think that this is a really, really tough situation but we are going to be forward-focused with addressing what we need to address to get everybody ready to go on Tuesday to start a new season. I believe we will be but I'm not going to ignore the fact that there are human emotions all over the place.”

Stevens is often the one best able to hide his emotions. But even he couldn’t mask the toll this process is taking. And yet it falls hard on him to figure out how to get his team out from this dark cloud as fast as possible.

112288

I don't see him coming back. They likely chose a suspension at least partly to make it impossible for Ime to get hired by another team (e.g. the Nets). Still wish the organization would provide clarity about what happened. Doing so woukd quell the Twitter speculation more than any indignation.

The organization is getting dragged through the mud in many opinion pages today for not acting immediately upon discovery in July.

My green glasses aside, they should have fired Ime on the spot and the ownership group would be receiving public acclaim today.

As it is, I would guess every woman working for the team is afraid she is under a microscope.

This was mishandled by slow action and the team only acted after the story leaked. It doesn’t please me to say they need to fire Ime soon. He’s probably too toxic for another team to pick up for a long time given current societal conditions.

We can only hope this gets replaced by stories about a good start under a new coach after players were let down by their old coach. I am guessing some of the well spoken team leaders like Jaylen Brown will come out with statements that will help the team recover some of the social credibility this has cost the organization.

Investigations take time.  Hard to know if the Celtics were too slow.  Wyc said the investigation was completed just a few days ago.

There remains a lot that we are not privy to.

One person's 'slow' is another person's 'deliberate'.  The hiring of an outside firm to investigate this was wise because it moves any decision to more of an arm's length distance.  I'm amazed that there was no leak of this over the time period the outside firm was fulfilling their contract.

If the Celtic front office was slow anywhere it was not recognizing how quickly Twitter and the Blogosphere would pivot away from Ime and towards trying to identify the women involved.  The woman the meatheads singled out as being "the one" is married.  She had to deal with the understandable alarm her husband must have felt during this.  Even if that was addressed quietly by Brad etal early the rumors were heard by her social circle as well.  Allison Feaster is African-American.  It apparently never occurred to the meatheads that the woman in the middle of all this might be a different race than Ime.  An interesting reflection of our culture, and not in a particularly good way in my opinion.

This is a difficult situation, during a difficult cultural time, for any institution or corporation.  On one hand there is clarity in the reasoning that a subordinate doesn't have the complete freedom to say 'no' to a superior.  It doesn't matter if they are in different branches of the organizational chart, it's a mismatch that favors the superior.  Having said that it takes two to tango, and what I've heard is that this relationship (there are even rumors there are two women who had consensual relationships with Ime) was consensual.

The difficulty here is that it's easy, and appropriate, to punish the superior for their poor judgement and much less so the subordinate for their poor judgement.  There are avenues of support for beleaguered employees in a company the size of the Boston Celtics.  There's HR, there's appealing to their immediate superior for help, neither of which requires the subordinate to directly confront the offending superior.

The rumor is that the female staffer (if in fact there is just one) is married to a Celtic VP.  More rumor is that it was the cuckolded husband that fought for the year suspension instead of the 3 month one that was originally under consideration.  If the first part of this is true then the problem isn't gone just because Ime's not around.  We have a married staff member who cheated on her husband at their common place of work and he's exceptionally pissed about it.  That is, in my opinion, cancerous, since it reveals a complete callous disregard for even nominal workplace guard rails or social mores.  If you shouldn't shite where you eat you sure as Hell shouldn't shite where your family eats.

However, because one cannot penalize the subordinate for their consensual role without making it look like you're minimizing the superior/subordinate imbalance Wyc's a bit hamstrung.  I'm thinking that female staffer will just, sorta, fade away.  She won't be told to leave, that would create legal liability for the organization, but a combination of the bad rep and vibes she's going to receive from her fellow employees for costing us our head coach will make it an unpleasant work place for her.  There must also be quite a bit of tension between her and her husband.  Does he want to keep her near so he can keep an eye on her or does he want to push this drama/trauma away from his day-to-day life?  

Testosterone should be a controlled substance.  Not only does it create raging assh0les it also seduces the weaker members of the stronger sex.


Bob


.

The time needed for an investigation, unfortunately, doesn't matter in my opinion.

I think that this is flat out a damage control situation. Predictably, the court of public opinion is not considering that the team was taking an innocent until proven guilty/get all the details approach.

Sometimes, you have to take swift action to preserve your standing. Fair or not, Brad and Wyc are being cast as cover-up artists. Given the outrage plastered across headlines over so many shortcomings in society for the past couple of years, I think they should have dismissed Ime right away.

Way too soon to say, but the possibility of sponsorships lost and opportunities that will now not be presented have a real cost to a sports franchise in the public eye. I feel the team botched this one. The idea is still to make money, a great many things flow from there into the pockets of owners and onto the basketball court as well. No business can take that risk.

Although no crime has been committed, a direct public relations comparison can be made to the recent situation in Buffalo with their newly drafted punter. They acted quickly and still not fast enough for some. There were some groups that moved their dollars away from sponsorships. Still, they let the ax fall fast enough to limit the damage in the more widespread court of public opinion. The sooner the break is made complete, the better for the franchise.

How bout that Wicked pressor aye?
They could have sent out an email given the non info that was dispensed from the Celtic podium.
I don’t like Wyc. I don’t trust him and think he’s a lying snake. I believe nothing he says.
I do like Brad and think that he is a good person. He just needs to try and keep his distance from that snake named Wyc.
Lets face it, we will never know the complete truth. There’s only 2 parties that know and they ain’t saying much.
As for the families that are caught up in this mess. I feel for them and will not attempt to opine on whats going on within their structure and besides, its none of our business anyway. Speculation is what made this story take on a life of its own in the first place.
At this moment It appears that there was no sexual harassment going on so I believe that Ime will eventually get another head coaching job. I personally think he deserves another chance.

Speaking with friends and colleagues in and outside of the Boston area, the view (and I'm not talking about twitter etc.) from the majority is that the Celtics front office is made up of bumbling idiots that don't have a clue of how to get in front of situations. They blow it the majority of the time. Unfortunately we all know that perception is reality and we ain’t looking too good amongst the public and numerous players and haven’t for quite some time.
It’s a sad, disappointing and depressing time for us Celtics fans.
This season cannot start soon enough.

If we could just subpoena Matt Barnes and learn what made him change his mind so abruptly from a nothingburger to "100 times worse" then we could find out the truth and let this rest. One telling thing to me is that in Ime's public apology he accepted the facts and conclusions of the investigation by the lawyers hired by the Celtics, thus including any depositions which would be conducted under oath subject to rules of perjury. Also, the Celtics denied being the source of the first "censual relationship" reporting, and as Wyc said there were two or more violations by Ime. Seemed like such a righteous fellow but...lacking a Shakespeare quote I'll defer to Mr. Matt Barnes.
Darn, just saw you beat me to it!

I hope that you’re not taking it that that tweet came from anyone related or close to Al Horford.

Ktron wrote:I hope that you’re not taking it that that tweet came from anyone related or close to Al Horford.

Nope.

gyso wrote:

Ktron wrote:I hope that you’re not taking it that that tweet came from anyone related or close to Al Horford.

Nope.

Might be a KD burner account.

gyso wrote:

https://twitter.com/GangCeltics/status/1573363205468000256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1573363205468000256%7Ctwgr%5Ecbf5a016d7ef742061d2d7f2111b01ae52cd1364%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsbnation.coral.coralproject.net%2Fapi%2Foembed%3Ftype%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FGangCeltics2Fstatus2F1573363205468000256siteID%3D112aa377-e27f-4b58-9156-5e5df25f39a2frameID%3Dframe-id-46fc4084-5d34-4527-89cb-d23164224df0-baf21f00-3c30-11ed-8ea8-87a31b12b110

Let me make sure I understand. He did say he is now part of the media.

He then says he came to Ime’s defense without knowing the facts.

He follows that up saying he talked with someone else (Who?) who told him its 100 times worse then what he thought. That its deep.

He then says its not his place to say what he heard so he ain’t telling us.

WTH? Its people like him that give media folks a bad name. BTW, just because you crack open a mic and look into a camera doesn’t necessarily mean you are a part of the media. I guess he also doesn’t know that now anyone can crack open a mic, open the laptop cut on the cameras and spew whatever they want. Thats no media Matty, its madness.
You’re also watering the tree of further speculation just because you had to have your face time.
Barnes is a fool and needs to shut his mouth.

Ktron wrote:

gyso wrote:

https://twitter.com/GangCeltics/status/1573363205468000256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1573363205468000256%7Ctwgr%5Ecbf5a016d7ef742061d2d7f2111b01ae52cd1364%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsbnation.coral.coralproject.net%2Fapi%2Foembed%3Ftype%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FGangCeltics2Fstatus2F1573363205468000256siteID%3D112aa377-e27f-4b58-9156-5e5df25f39a2frameID%3Dframe-id-46fc4084-5d34-4527-89cb-d23164224df0-baf21f00-3c30-11ed-8ea8-87a31b12b110

Let me make sure I understand. He did say he is now part of the media.

He then says he came to Ime’s defense without knowing the facts.

He follows that up saying he talked with someone else (Who?) who told him its 100 times worse then what he thought. That its deep.

He then says its not his place to say what he heard so he ain’t telling us.

WTH? Its people like him that give media folks a bad name. BTW, just because you crack open a mic and look into a camera doesn’t necessarily mean you are a part of the media. I guess he also doesn’t know that now anyone can crack open a mic, open the laptop cut on the cameras and spew whatever they want. Thats no media Matty, its madness.
You’re also watering the tree of further speculation just because you had to have your face time.
Barnes is a fool and needs to shut his mouth.

+1


Bob


.

Matt Barnes will do anything to get his face on tv and his remarks reported. He is a nothing, as far as I am concerned and anyone who believes even a part of what he says is a fool. This is the perfect time for fools like him to jump into the picture and report things that they cannot even back up. A zero, that is what he is

Yeah, sure. But what if he is telling the truth?

It's possible that he knows more about this than anyone here.

At this point, I'm not taking anybody's word for anything. I'm saving it for my book.

jrleftfoot wrote:At this point, I'm not taking anybody's word for anything. I'm saving it for my book.

Of course, a key rule of thinking is healthy skepticism… but that doesn’t mean one should bury their head in green sand. The “shut his mouth” and only “fools” listen to this source should not intimidate any mind that wants to get to the truth. About your book…

If Barnes says it is 100 X worst then he needs to show some evidence. He can reveal what is around the edges to give everyone an idea, clue of what he means.

Otherwise................. sip the lip

112288

Old boy ain’t fooling me. He’s trying to funnel inquisitive folks to he and Stephen Jackson’s podcast. He thinks he’s slick. Doesn’t give a damn about misinformation unless its about him. The medium is a magnet for opportunistic maggots like him.
In the words of my late great fave Archie Bunker: “Stifle your self”!

BingBang! wrote:

jrleftfoot wrote:At this point, I'm not taking anybody's word for anything. I'm saving it for my book.

Of course, a key rule of thinking is healthy skepticism… but that doesn’t mean one should bury their head in green sand. The “shut his mouth” and only “fools” listen to this source should not intimidate any mind that wants to get to the truth. About your book…

                                    My comment was inspired by the likes of Steven A.Smith, and,especially, Mr.Barnes. it's hard to take somebody's word for something when he won't say what that something is. What does " it's a hundred times worse" even mean? I don 't think you have to bury your head in the sand to disregard something a media pundit says he won't talk about. If he doesn't want to discuss what he claims to know, he should, in my opinion stfu. The rumor mongers already misidentified several women staffers. if somebody has some facts to share, great. I'll judge how bad the situation is for myself when the facts are presented.Maybe I'll decide it is 62% worse, or 73 %. I know something really bad about so and so but I can't tell you what it is is is so much adolescent b.s. I'll admit to being sick of this whole situation, but my comment was , pretty obviously, in jest. If any more facts are divulged , I'll consider them, but I have no great desire to explore this subject further. Ime is suspended and has apologized. I , personally, am ready to move on, that's all I am saying.