How Kevin Garnett wants Celtics stars to handle ‘dark times’ of Ime Udoka scandal
Celtics legend Kevin Garnett is curious which stars will “step up and lead” the team after Boston suspended head coach Ime Udoka for the entire 2022-23 season.
Last week, the Celtics announced Udoka had violated team policies, reportedly by having an improper relationship with a female team staff member.
“The question still is here, ‘who’s gonna lead them?’ Is this the time where [Jayson] Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown step up?” Garnett said in a preview video of Showtime Basketball’s full “Certified Smoke” 2022-23 NBA season preview.
The Hall of Fame forward was joined by fellow Celtics great Paul Pierce, along with former NBA champions and “All the Smoke” podcast hosts, Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes.
“The locker room, the cohesiveness has to be on a thousand,” Garnett said. “Your real leader, your general [Udoka] is not going to be there for a whole year.”
Garnett — who spent six seasons with the Celtics — was the last player to help bring a championship to Boston in 2008.
The Celtics came close to hanging an 18th banner in the rafters at TD Garden last season, when Tatum and Brown led Boston to the Finals, where they fell to the Warriors in six games.
“Just think about all that promise, all that investment they took on getting to the Finals and what that year was like. You’ve all been there,” Garnett said. “It’s hard as s–t to get to the Finals. Think about going home as a loser, and going home on vacation and every time you see somebody being reminded of that sh-t and then you come in here to this [Udoka suspension].
“Dark times show true self in personnel. This is when people step up and this is when you come out and grow wings.”
Barnes added that Celtics players will be faced with addressing Udoka’s suspension repeatedly throughout the season.
“Every time they go through a lull this season, this is going to get brought up, when they lose two or three games,” Barnes said.
“The league don’t care about these excuses,” Garnett replied. “When you go through something, it brings you closer together.”
Last Friday, Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck said in a press conference that a months-long investigation found a “volume of violations” by Udoka.
Grousbeck, along with Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, did not share further details about the situation for privacy reasons.
Tatum told The Athletic that he and teammates learned of Udoka’s suspension “on Twitter, like everybody else.” The All-Star guard called it “an unfortunate situation” that caught the team “off guard.”
In a statement shared on Twitter by ESPN’s Malika Andrews, Udoka apologized to Celtics players, the organization, fans and his family for “letting them down.
“I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision,” the statement read. “Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.”
Udoka’s fiancée, actress Nia Long, asked that her privacy be respected in a statement released to TMZ through her rep.
“The outpouring of love and support from family, friends and the community during this difficult time means so much to me,” Long said in the statement. “I ask that my privacy be respected as I process the recent events. Above all, I am a mother and will continue to focus on my children.”
Joe Mazzulla will act as interim head coach for Boston during Udoka’s one-year suspension.
The Celtics open the season against the Philadelphia 76ers on October 18th at TD Garden.
