Ime Udoka’s scandal has gotten worse as more people have been implicated. A Boston Celtics journalist talks about this drama: “Watching these last few days unfold has been heartbreaking.”
Updating about Ime Udoka’s scandal. It appears to be getting worse
Ime Udoka, who led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals earlier this year, will be forced to observe as his team members try to go one step further without him.
The Celtics issued a brief statement late Wednesday confirming Udoka’s postponement for the 2022/23 season for ‘violations of team policies.’ The Athletic and ESPN then reported, citing multiple sources, that Udoka had an ‘improper consensual relationship’ with a female Celtics staffer.
‘I want to apologise to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organisation, and my family for letting them down. I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.’
When it was revealed that this relationship had occurred with a Celtics employee, social networking was uncontrolled with salacious gossip, theory, and unfounded allegations that pulled the names and status of several female Boston Celtics employees into the mix.
The NBA franchise made the decision not to name the woman involved. As honorable as those purposes were, it resulted in numerous female Celtics employees being named in careless supposition on social media. Amanda Pflugrad, the Celtics’ in-house reporter, was one such employee.
“There was the sordid side to social media,” said Bill Simmons on his popular podcast. “This continues to happen and it is the worst we have to offer of the message-board and Twitter era. People sleuthing, posting pictures of employees and doing the guessing game, and the rumor mill going around. It was really awful.”
Amanda Pflugrad, a former CBS reporter who now works for the Boston Celtics, discovered her own name being thrown around on social media posts and threads. She posted the following statement on her Instagram and Twitter accts on Friday:
‘As a female of the Celtics organization (sic), watching these last few days unfold has been heartbreaking. Seeing uninvolved people’s names thrown around in the media, including mine, with such carelessness is disgusting. This is a step backwards for women in sports who have worked hard to prove themselves in an industry they deserve to be in.’
