Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown voiced their displeasure over how the Celtics treated Ime Udoka in a recent interview with the Boston Globe. It's unlikely the two franchise pillars are alone in their feelings.
That's an ominous sign for an organization that wants to quickly move past the Udoka debacle and refocus its sights on chasing Banner No. 18.
Smart voiced his surprise to the Globe's Adam Himmelsbach about Udoka reportedly landing a job with the Nets, despite the Celtics suspending him for the season. "It definitely sucks," said Smart. "I guess it was deemed that whatever happened was enough for him not to be the coach here, but I guess not enough for him [not] to be a coach anywhere else, obviously."
That's a fair question to raise: how could Udoka's conduct warrant a one-season suspension in Boston, but no punishment in Brooklyn? Presumably, Udoka will start coaching as soon as the move is announced.
While pro sports are an immoral business, the Nets distinguish themselves as maybe the most soulless franchise in the NBA. For starters, their owner, Joe Tsai, is an adamant advocate of China's communist regime, and his company partners with business that are blackballed by the U.S. government for "supporting a "campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention and high-tech surveillance," according to ESPN.
The Nets' lack of values were on full display this week, when they fired Steve Nash, and kept Kyrie Irving, who recently promoted an antisemitic film on Twitter and then acted like a petulant child when questioned.
The Nets shielded Irving from the media Monday and Tuesday. General manager Sean Marks said they didn't want to create any more "fuss."
Too late: fans showed up to Barclays Center Monday wearing "Fight Antisemitism" t-shirts, and Irving is now a pariah. He's closer to Alex Jones than All-NBA.
The Nets are a desperate team. Their Durant-Irving-Harden trio flamed out, leaving nothing but trade demands in their wake. Durant reportedly ordered the Nets last summer to either trade him or fire Nash.
On Tuesday, the Nets acquiesced. They've compromised every organizational value to salvage their franchise-killing bet on Durant and Irving.
Bringing aboard a coach rife with questions about his own character and judgment is the next logical step in their descent towards the bottom.
But apparently, Smart sees the situation differently. He seems to think the Celtics betrayed Udoka.
"His name got slandered and slaughtered and it was, 'He'll probably never coach again,'" said Smart. "And a couple of months later, now he's possibly going to be the coach of one of our biggest rivals?"
Brown added that it "sucks" Udoka won't be back, but he's "happy to see a Black head coach end up back on his feet."
It's true: there are widespread injustices levied against Black coaches across sports.
But not Udoka, at least in this case. He led the Celtics to within two wins of an NBA championship last season. Does anybody really think they wanted to suspend him for the season just days before training camp?
Wyc Grousbeck told reporters in September that Udoka's yearlong ban was "well warranted and appropriate." He reportedly carried on an improper romantic relationship with a female subordinate, making "unwanted comments" and using "crude language."
Given the unprecedented suspension, those euphemisms are probably doing a lot of work. (This week, NetsDaily reported Udoka sent "inappropriate messages" to multiple women.)
Brown and Smart both admit they don't know the particulars of Udoka's behavior. Yet, they feel comfortable publicly going against the team, anyway.
That indicates the players and organization aren't on the same page.
Three weeks into the season, the disconnect is already playing out through the media. Yikes.
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Brooklyn's bet on Udoka: The Nets are rightfully getting pilloried for hiring Udoka now. But if they start winning, the backlash will probably dissipate.
It's a cynical bet, but it's probably right.
The Udoka story disappeared until the Nets reportedly hired him. Barring new revelations, it will keep fading into the background. That's how the news cycle works today.
The Browns are counting on a similar scenario playing out with Deshaun Watson, who's been accused of sexual assault by 25 women.
The New York media is tough, but not tough enough to dampen a prolonged playoff run.
Unfortunately for the Nets, that probably won't happen.
Amazon's sports-talk flop: Amazon is getting into the sports-talk business.
Why?
This week, Amazon debuted its new 12-hour sports talk lineup, beginning with a show called "Bonjour Sports Talk." The featured program is the "Cari Champion Show," which streams from noon - 2:00 p.m.
It's uncertain what Amazon wants to accomplish with this endeavor. It's hard to imagine anyone streaming "Sports Talk Game Breakers" in the mid-afternoon, or "The Backup Plan" at night.
Jeff Bezos certainly has enough money to throw some away. That seems to be what he's doing here.
Baseball, the beautiful game: Bryce Harper has given us two incredible images this postseason. The first was his two-run homer that essentially sent the Phillies to the World Series.
The other was his two-run homer in the 1st inning of Game 3 Tuesday. The scene was majestic.
The gridiron just isn't as aesthetically pleasing.
