Former NBA Star Matt Barnes Changes Tune Regarding Suspended Coach Ime Udoka Following Scandal: 'It's 100 Times Uglier Than Any Of Us Thought'
Former basketball star Matt Barnes previously stood up for Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka after the 45-year-old was suspended for one year by the NBA following an affair. Now, Barnes is changing his tune.
The news of Udoka's lengthy suspension came on Thursday, September 22. The coach broke "multiple" team rules by allegedly having a consensual relationship with an unnamed woman on staff. The affair took place while Udoka was believed to be with actress Nia Long, who he met in 2010 and has been to engaged since 2015. Their son, Kez Sunday, was born in 2011.
"I played in the league for a long time," Barnes wrote on social media in defense of the embattled coach in a since-deleted Thursday statement. "Anyone in the league could tell you this is a very common situation."
Added Barnes, "This is not new news for people who've been in the league or around organizations. I've seen it from owners to executives, to coaches, to players, to trainers, to therapists, to dancers, to PR ladies. This is not uncommon."
- Nia Long's Fiancé Ime Udoka Used 'Crude Language' With Subordinate Female Staffer Prior To Affair
- Suspended Celtics Coach Ime Udoka's Affair Discovered Through Home Doorbell Camera
- Nia Long's Boston Celtics Coach Fiancé Ime Udoka Faces Possible Season-Long Suspension Over 'Improper' Relationship With Female Staff Member
Since then, Udoka has also been accused of making "unwanted" comments directed at other female staffers — and according to Barnes, it may get worse than that. The NBA veteran took to social media to admit that he deleted his original post questioning the suspension after receiving new information.
"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," the former athlete said in a video recorded in his car.
"Some things happened that I can't condone, I can't back, and it's not my place to tell you what happened," he continued. "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—t is deep."
Barned noted that even though his social media message was only online for a short time, he saw "a lot of blogs" pick up his comments, and he hoped that they would share his follow up video as well of him "being wrong and jumping out there without the facts."
Following the suspension, Udoka released a statement apologizing to the "players, fans ... and my family for letting them down."