Effective immediately, the team announced the coaches suspension Thursday night, citing violations of team policies in their announcement. Little is being said about how the situation got to this point, other than word of an intimate relationship between Ukoda and a female franchisee employee, despite his engagement to long time partner, Fatal Affairs actress, Nia Long.
Wyc Grousbeck, the Celtics’ majority owner cited “privacy reasons” when declining to elaborate on the situation.
The teams decision to suspend Ukoda came after a monthslong investigation into his misconduct, carried out by an independent law firm.
Early and vague reports about Ukoda’s behavior surfaced late Wednesday. Social media blew up with the names and pictures of the women who worked for the organization, coming with it an onslaught of comments, referencing the women’s bodies and aspects of their appearances, all in speculation of who may have been involved with the coach.
“we have a lot of talented women in our organization, and I thought yesterday was really hard on them. I do think that we as an organization, have a responsibility to make sure we’re there to support them now ” Brad Stevens, president of basketball operations and former head coach of the team stating referring to the social media activity following Ukoda’s misconduct.
Grousbeck added that he was troubled that several employees had been “dragged into the public eye unwillingly and inappropriately.
Other than a few statements made by the ownership group, still not much is being said about the incident.
More to develop later.
