Adrian Wojnarowski says the Celtics ‘never got over Ime Udoka’s dismissal’
“These players did not accept the organization’s reason for doing it, they thought it was a wild overreaction.”
Prior to Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night, NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski joined ESPN to discuss how Ime Udoka’s firing has impacted the Celtics and their play.
Ime Udoka
Wojnarowski mentioned a concern from players over the opaqueness of Boston’s management and their unwillingness to share details about the situation.
“For this team and from talking with management, they felt they never got any more answers than what the public was getting on this,” Wojnarowski said.
When it came to what the players did hear, Wojnarowski also said that some within the locker room felt that the punishment for Udoka was too harsh.
“These players did not accept the organization’s reason for doing it, they thought it was a wild overreaction,” Wojnarowski said. “There were a lot of people on the outside who thought it was an overreaction, that is was an HR matter.”
Stephen A. Smith was one of those people on the outside who felt the situation was mishandled by the Celtics.
During First Take on Monday, Smith said that Boston’s recent struggles are “justice” for the way that the team’s management chose to handle the situation that included inappropriate work place behavior from Udoka.
Whether or not the Celtics deserve “justice,” they are seeing a tangible impact amongst the players from the Udoka dismissal.
“This is a team that really believed in Ime Udoka and had a strong connection with him,” Wojnarowski said. “I think there were a couple instances this season where a lot of that angst resurfaced, first when the Brooklyn Nets nearly hired Udoka as head coach and then when the Rockets did.”
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