sport news Ex-NBA star Matt Barnes warns Ime Udoka scandal is '100 times uglier than any ... trends now
Former NBA forward-turned-media personality Matt Barnes has backed off criticism of the Boston Celtics for suspending head coach Ime Udoka over a reported affair with a female staffer.
Barnes, 42, originally slammed the suspension on Thursday, only to reverse course on Friday when he learned the 'all the facts,' which he says are '100 times uglier than any of us thought.'
Udoka was suspended late Thursday night for the upcoming 2022-23 season over 'multiple' violations of team rules, involving a single female team staff member. ESPN, The Athletic, and The Associated Press have since reported that Udoka was having in inappropriate, but consensual relationship with the woman.
However, The Athletic raised questions about the relationship Thursday night, reporting that Udoka was accused by the woman of making 'unwanted comments' to her, prompting the Celtics to launch internal interviews that ultimately led to his suspension.
On Friday, in a self-shot Instagram video, Barnes explained that he deleted his previous post criticizing the decision because he learned more information.
'Since I'm a part of the media now, and I try not to be like everyone else – I try and report with facts and honesty – and I clearly have to say, 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,' Barnes said to the camera while driving his car.
'And that's why I erased what I said. Some things happened that I can't condone, I can't back, and 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 s*** is deep.'
Former NBA forward-turned-media personality Matt Barnes is walking back his criticism of the Celtics for suspending head coach Ime Udoka over a reported affair with a female staffer
Barnes went on to say that he hopes that the blogs that picked up his first post on the subject see that he's walking back his criticism of the Celtics.
'I
