After initially coming to Ime Udoka’s defense upon learning about his suspension, Matt Barnes is changing his tune.
Source: Sacramento Bee / Getty
According to the former NBA player, he came to Udoka’s defense without knowing the entirety of the situation–and now that he does know more, he claims things are a lot worse than anyone could have imagined.
“Last night, 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,” Barnes said.
“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 is the reason why I erased my post last night because after I posted it, I got a call from someone who ran all the details and s**t is deep. Praying for everybody involved, hope everyone gets through this.”
After he first heard the news, Barnes initially posted a message saying he was surprised that Udoka was suspended as head coach for the Celtics after the scandal came to light.
“I played in the league for a long time. Anyone who played in the league can tell you: this is a very common situation,” Matt explained at the time. “This is not new news for people who have been in the league or even around organizations.”