Julian Martinez: [00:00:12] Well, this is certainly not the news I was expecting. What about a month removed from the NBA season, head coach Ime Udoka of my Boston Celtics likely suspended for the year. This comes after a report that was put out that he had a consensual relationship with a staff member that broke Boston celtics code of conduct for their employees. Kyle, initial reaction? [00:00:35][22.3]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:00:35] Well, we don't have all the information, so that makes it difficult to figure out exactly what behavior Udoka conducted that would lead to the suspension. This is a Boston Celtics team rule thing. I don't know exactly what the NBA rule is when people sign contracts, especially people who are in the basketball operations side. And I don't know exactly the details of those rules, so I don't know exactly the information when it comes to like any code of conduct laws and rules and such, both in the NBA and the Celtics. We know that he's getting suspended for the year and we know that email doc is going to presumably still be the coach after the fact, which suggests that he broke an ethical line and not a line that was one that warranted the termination of his job. And I think it's an interesting position because there hasn't really been anything quite like this where we're talking about I mean, you could point to situations like in baseball with cheating scandals, but nothing like this that warrants a long term suspension. And so I think it'd be better to have more information around this case. And I don't want to do the speculation without knowing, because when you hear its story of sexual infidelity, all of a sudden men flock to that story and start going crazy about that idea. And I think that out of respect for whatever that situation is going to be, I don't want to do speculation. It's just we we know that whatever conduct he may Udoka engaged in is worthy of having it basically an unprecedented suspension because it's behavior that doesn't warrant a firing. But Warren, being away from the team for a year, it's a very unique situation, at least as far as I can remember. [00:02:17][101.4] Julian Martinez: [00:02:18] It's interesting just knowing or at least what the report says, that this was a consensual relationship happened in the workplace. And, you know, I've been in workplaces, too, where they make you signed the contract that you will not date such and such because, you know, it may create a conflict of interest down the line. And I guess when you consider that Emma is the head coach, you know, is a powerful person in that organization, you worry about that blurring the lines later. And I guess this is if you're the Celtics, your way of protecting yourself, just a case, who knows years later, I don't know the staffer. I don't know what their interests are or what their future is in the NBA. But what if they say, Ime was a person in a position of power and he took advantage of that, you know, for this relationship, consensual now. But who knows what that could turn into or morph into ten years down the line. So maybe this is the Celtics way of prematurely handling this. It's unprecedented, too, because usually you don't see an organization shooting itself in the foot in terms of the product they are able to put out on the field for the Celtics, you know, email doc first your head coach takes you to the NBA Finals and less than a year later, we're talking about this. That's insane to me. We talked a little bit about this last night. We talked about what could the suspension be, because we already knew that it was circulating in the rumor mill about a month, maybe some games a year, a year for a coach that was ascending and, you know, to if you're like the players. So let's talk about like a year later after he comes off the suspension or the players together, are they just going to embrace him with open arms or let's say the Celtics have a down year in that down year, they feel is because of email. Don't you think that kind of like puts an impediment on leadership from teammates? [00:03:59][101.3] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:00] Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. [00:04:01][1.3] Julian Martinez: [00:04:02] It just completely changes that locker room dynamic. We'll see if, like the Celtics even have a good season. You know, it's going to fall on the assistant coach. So we'll just put it out there that Joe Mizzola is going to be taking over for head coaching duties for the year. So that puts add to the rumor of Brad Stevens potentially coming down from the box and going down back to the hardwood. It looks like they're going to stick with assistant coach. And that's probably a smart move because you also don't want people thinking this flip flop relationship between who's the real head coach? Is Brad Stevens. Is that Emma? When you talk about a year later, there's a danger in that, too. What if the Celtics have a really good season? What if they do better than they did the previous year? Then you have this situation you talk about like when quarterbacks sometimes get hurt and they're back, that comes in and does a better job. Remember what Nick Foles did with that one year, you know, wins the Super Bowl and then that creates the awkward locker room dynamic with him and Carson Wentz. Now, that could happen, too. There's a whole can of worms that got opened with the suspension. Just surprises me, too. Again, this is a Celtics in House suspension. This is. In an NBA suspension. [00:05:07][64.7] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:05:08] Part of this is, and you mentioned it earlier, is the idea of him being in a leadership position. And therefore there is a power imbalance between whoever it is that he's having a relationship with because it's hard for anyone to be on the same level of leadership in a male dominated industry the way that Ime Doka is as head coach of the Boston Celtics, former NBA player for a decade. Like it's hard to that's a person in a position of power and we should expect that most of our organizations that are leaders are held to a higher standard than, say, the people who are employees, which is important to bring up, given the fact that now Robert Sarver is going to be pressured to sell his team despite the fact that he only got a year suspension and a fine. Well, let me ask you, do you think. [00:05:53][45.4] Julian Martinez: [00:05:53] There's any situation in which you could date down any work with the NBA locker room and, you know, just any workplace could just I don't know. You're the supervisor at a fast food restaurant. Can you date your subordinate? [00:06:07][13.9] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:06:08] I am willing to talk it out in a conversation with nuance and involving more women. Like hearing the perspective of women who are not in positions of power is important when talking about these conversations and how they feel about pressure from people who are in positions of power to have relationships. I think that's a conversation that's much more complex than this weird world of sports that he may doka finds himself in because we just don't have the information available. So I would say it's a guess. There's a lot. [00:06:38][29.7] Julian Martinez: [00:06:38] Of women also want to date successful men. And I would also say, like you talking about the head coach of the basketball team, that's a hell of a successful man right there. Sometimes you build yourself up to try and put yourself in a position where you're looked highly upon and well, that kind of means you can't do certain things because of it. [00:06:55][16.7] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:06:55] And that's a situation where. [00:06:56][1.2] Julian Martinez: [00:06:56] It's yeah, it's you can't date a subordinate or coworker, whatever. [00:07:00][3.9] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:07:00] You could say. That's the situation where it's morally reprehensible and also for whatever the reasons may be, because I also acknowledge this is pro sports. If he made a joke, it adds value. He will be retained the same way that the Boston Red Sox fired Alex Cora because of the cheating scandal with the Astros and then hired him back a year later. Like, if you add value, you will get second chances and you will get to keep the position that you have. If Madoka was, for example, the general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves named Gersson Rosas, who was also fired for having an inappropriate relationship with someone within the workplace, Gersson Rosas was not as was not someone who was worth retaining because the Timberwolves didn't want him around in the first place. And, you know, he wasn't doing a great job running the team. So I understand that part of of sports and how it will let people come back as long as they have value. So I'm not going to say like we don't know exactly what ethical or reprehensible line. Again, we don't have all the information. More details could come out that do lead to Emma Udoka being fired. A lot of it is is public pressure. And the Boston Celtics are obviously operating under their own code of conduct, which hopefully protects people in in. [00:08:11][71.0] Julian Martinez: [00:08:12] Yeah. I mean, you know, in fairness, though, you know, again, this as far as we know, consensual relationship both parties were down how my parents met within the workplace. You know before the Internet most people met their significant other or spouse in the workplace. It's not a crazy idea. It's not a crazy suggestion that sometimes and specifically in this one. Okay. So she's a team staffer. That's all I know, right? You're traveling together, you're on the road together, you're talking with each other. Maybe you find out, oh, she likes the same movies I do. She likes to say music. I do. And one thing leads to another, and then suddenly it happens. You know, that can happen. That can happen very organically. I understand the Celtics want to protect their best interest because if again, years down the road, something shifts in their relationship and it becomes toxic, then you don't want to have that situation in your locker room, in your workplace. But tell you know, to play devil's advocate here, sometimes these relations morph in a more if he may put a ring on them, like what we'd be talking about in the same way. [00:09:12][59.4] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:09:12] In those cases, leaders are held to a higher standard than the rest of the employees. It's the fact that Ime Udoka is the head coach of the Boston Celtics is, I assume, the reason that he's being suspended because the stereotype of athletes cheating on spouses is something that's been played out over decades to the point where it's now a lazy stereotype like we know this exists in the NBA. Family Guy was making jokes about this like 13 years ago about infidelity in sports. Like that stereotype has been played out so much to this point that we don't know. [00:09:41][28.6] Julian Martinez: [00:09:41] I assume we know long either, too. Like, is this an open marriage? Is this like are they even married? I don't even think they're married. I think they have a kid together, but they could be on the outs, you know, stuff like that happens that exists. Like just talk about it for on a human level, not just who you may is or who the staffer is or the Boston Celtics. You know, just, you know, if this was happening at a Dairy Queen or something, I don't know. I mentioned Gary calling, but what do we questioning? As much if, like, we knew that, hey, these people just get along, you know, they're. [00:10:09][28.0] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:10:10] Oh, well, if it were. If it were not a high profile job, we just wouldn't give a shit. Like, that's the thing I've learned about people in society is that because this is a famous person being involved in this and a famous leader at that, because again, this is a position of power that you may Udoka has and has the ability to abuse that power. And therefore this is a standard. [00:10:31][20.7] Julian Martinez: [00:10:31] Necessarily abuse said power. [00:10:33][1.8] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:10:33] Yes. And that's why he's not being fired. It's just because this is, I assume, an immoral situation or an unethical situation for. [00:10:42][8.5] Julian Martinez: [00:10:42] Deltec. [00:10:42][0.0] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:10:43] In a position of power within the workplace. [00:10:44][1.5] Julian Martinez: [00:10:45] It's the Celtic protecting themselves. That's how I look at this. They just don't want this to morph into something worse, which given the political climate we live in today, you know, I understand they don't want to be involved in that. Years down the line, five years down the line, five months down the line, five days down the line. Stuff can like shift in terms of how people view one situation to another. So I understand why they're trying to, in theory, get ahead of this situation. Just sex or email sex or the team. It's going to suck for his leadership moving forward. How the Celtics view him moving forward, how guys who are developing in their careers Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams, all these guys look at him moving forward. We'll see how that dynamic goes. It's a great opportunity. Certainly if you're Missoula, you know, hey, take the reins and run with it. We'll see. What has this situation morphs to like? You know, you mentioned possibility they still have an open door firing. I don't think that's going to get to that point. [00:11:37][51.9] Kyle Ledbetter: [00:11:38] Like, yeah, we just don't have all the information. We don't have all the. [00:11:41][3.1] Julian Martinez: [00:11:41] Year that's still developing too. It could very well turn into a couple months. There could be appeals process. There's a lot of things that could go on and this that may shift what the overall suspension and punishment or whatever it may be is. But overall, you know, whatever your thoughts are, you know, dropping below in the comments, kind of want to get some feedback how you're feeling about the situation where the Celtics in the right to make this move was he may in the wrong this that other anything in all how you're feeling I kind of want hear your thoughts leave it like on the video subscribe to the channel follow us on all our social media that you should talk sports. Kyle Ledbetter JuJu Talks Sports on Twitter. Stay safe, happy and healthy and we'll see you on the next one. [00:11:41][0.0] [676.4]
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Cavs Fan Reaction to Donovan Mitchell trade to Cleveland for Sexton, Markkanen & 5 Draft Pick9/1/2022 julian martinez: [00:00:12] Okay, guys. So the Donovan Mitchell drama has officially came to an end, but he will not be wearing a New York Knicks jersey as previously thought so. Knicks fans put away your fake custom made Donovan Mitchell jerseys. He is going to Cleveland, Ohio, so Woj. Tweeted out the details of the trade. So he is going to Cleveland in exchange for Lauri Markkanen Agbaji Collin Sexton and 3 1st round picks unprotected including two pick swaps. So trader Danny definitely went to work. My first question is going to be for my Ohio based colleague Andrew Hagenbaugh roots for the Cavs who cheers for the Cavs. What do you make of this trade? Are you happy? Are you thrilled? Do you think it's going to work out? I'm sure you have a lot of emotions going one way or the other. [00:01:01][48.4]
andrew hagenbaugh: [00:01:02] Yeah, no. When I saw the news I work. I was very thrilled to hear that the Cavs got Donovan Mitchell. They're just adding to this young core. And Koby Altman I think did a fantastic job of getting another All-Star into this team to pair with a bunch of youngsters like the likes of Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and obviously Isaac Okoro that's going to be your starting five and team that made the Play-In tournament with 35 like them barely a bench that was good things for the Cavs and J.B. Bickerstaff is loving life in Cleveland. I'm sure right now I'll talk about the defensive side of the ball when this happens. I mean, everybody on the floor that you have now very good defensively and very good offensively. So this is a team is going to bounce up and down the court. They're young and they're not going to tire easy. They're going to tire you out bouncing up and down the court and just making sure they you can't do anything. You can't stop them. You can't keep up with them. This is a team that's going to be young and they're going to be very dynamic. [00:02:01][58.8] julian martinez: [00:02:02] Okay, so Andrew Hohman, as the two Texas based residents who both root for the Boston Celtics, this trade happens on the backs of one Danny Ainge. Someone we know and love for his trades is wheeling and dealing for our organization. What do you make of what he's doing in Utah to this point between this Indigo Bear trade. [00:02:20][18.8] Andrew Hohman: [00:02:21] Is doing a similar thing to what he was doing in Boston. Stockpiling picks, stockpiling assets. That's a typical trade or Danny move. I mean, it led to this Celtics team that they have right now and they just went to the finals. I mean, you never know what can happen in Utah. It can always go either way when you're stockpiling picks you can make or miss picks. But he's given them a chance to really build something special there. It's fun to watch from the outside and doing the same thing you did for us. We'll see what happens. [00:02:56][34.7] julian martinez: [00:02:56] One thing that I kind of look at the Utah roster, though, now what's going on, Sexton coming in or Markkanen they're fine pieces and they're pieces that I think can at least provide wins for this roster is I kind of wonder if that ruins their opportunity to truly tank. One of the big things coming into next year's draft is everyone's excited for the big French prospect, the number one prospect coming in next year. The name escapes me, but just look up his highlights. Eight. The guy's a stud and I think he's highly coveted. I think San Antonio is right now on the front running for him because they really depleted that roster. One of the big problems that a lot of people had with the Danny Ainge regime in Boston was mostly because he was afraid to make the big trade. Now he has all these assets and no definitive stars left on the roster. He doesn't have a Brad Stevens who was a coach who was good enough to elevate the roster like last time, although he did hire someone from that Boston Celtics regime to kind of fill the role. So I wonder if he's going to have the same level of success because he's not going to have a draft pick as high to land a Jayson Tatum or a Jaylen Brown necessarily, because the fact that he hit on those two picks in particular was why the Boston Celtics have the roster they have today. If you don't land those two guys then we're looking at Danny Ainge is overall stockpiling as a complete failure as opposed to the win as it currently is with the Boston Celtics. Although we were hoping that it would result in a championship by now, it's still looking fairly better than it was. So now that you have Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland and you look at the top of the east, Andrew Higginbotham, how do you think this Cleveland Cavaliers team stacks up against the likes of Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Miami? Can they crack that top four? Because if they're really making this move just to get into the playoffs, then is that really a victory for this organization? [00:05:01][124.1] andrew hagenbaugh: [00:05:01] So I don't think it's going to happen this year that we're going to try to top four I. To give it another maybe a year or two, because obviously you gotta remember, this is still a very young, the youngest core in the league. The average age of the starting line up is about, what, 22 and a half years old? 23 years old. It's a very young team. I think this first year is a year to kind of just develop and get everybody working together, get all the pieces moving. And then I think once you start hitting next season, then you can start saying, okay, this casting could potentially be, you know, a top four, top three roster. So for me personally, I would see the Cavs as maybe like a five or six right now. [00:05:39][37.3] julian martinez: [00:05:39] Are they better than that? [00:05:40][0.7] andrew hagenbaugh: [00:05:40] They have. Yes, I would say they're better than the bulls right now. [00:05:43][2.9] julian martinez: [00:05:44] Are they better than Brooklyn? [00:05:44][1.0] andrew hagenbaugh: [00:05:45] Brooklyn's a toss up. I know they lost a couple of pieces, but I think they can compete with the likes of Brooklyn. [00:05:50][4.9] julian martinez: [00:05:51] What do you think about them versus Atlanta and think about other teams that are kind of like in that range. I'll I'll take the three, you got to remember, is over there now with Trey Young. So that team improved? [00:06:02][10.7] andrew hagenbaugh: [00:06:02] Yeah, they did. So I think the Cavs even like last season, we were almost about equal with L.A.. I think what Donovan Mitchell, again, just his prowess and his, you know, his game. I think he can help elevate a lot of these guys a little bit above. So I think for me personally, I think they could do better than Atlanta. [00:06:22][19.3] julian martinez: [00:06:22] What about you, Andrew Homan? Where do you think they rank in the Eastern Conference today? [00:06:26][3.8] Andrew Hohman: [00:06:27] I mean, I think you got to put them behind Miami, Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and maybe Brooklyn. They're they're probably right around rafters. Bulls, hawks range somewhere in there, kind of right where they were this last year, I think. [00:06:41][14.2] julian martinez: [00:06:42] So do you consider this a win, like if being that they're still in that second tier? [00:06:47][5.5] Andrew Hohman: [00:06:49] It gives them the opportunity to make another move at some point to give them another star player if they can get a second guy to play alongside Donovan Mitchell. You might be looking at a team that really compete in the East. [00:07:02][12.9] julian martinez: [00:07:02] Here today, I would say. They're a team that I always think has an opportunity to win a playoff series and that's a good spot to be in. If you told me the Cavs were able to win a playoff series. That's that's okay. Last year I thought if health permitting, they could have probably beaten that year's Brooklyn team. Unfortunately, they only have Jared Allen who's injured towards the end and they weren't able to get it done. They lost their edge defensively. I think if you're a fan like Drew here, you just have to be excited that you have organization that's willing to make a move to get better. It's why I didn't hit over the head the Chicago Bulls for making the moves they did last year. Because I think that any team that's committed to going out there and acquiring good players as a team that I can support, a team that I can say you're doing a good job at as an organization. And I'm surprised that this deal came together. Honestly, Cleveland just kind of came out of left field when it came to Donovan Mitchell. Obviously, again, we've been hearing the heat, we've been hearing the Knicks. And I'm sure if you're the Heat fans, you have to be kind of kicking Pat Riley a little bit. And I know you love Pat Riley, but you have to be kicking him a little bit for not being that aggressive to go out there and still Donovan Mitchell away. And if you're the Knicks, I mean, the Knicks just have a whole other issue. They just think RJ Barrett to this extension, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, they have a whole mess of issues currently on their roster and a lot of committed money to probably be worse than the Cleveland Cavaliers this year. Think about that. The Knicks are spending more money to be worse than this Cleveland team. So you got to love it from that point that they are improved. I still don't think that they're ready, like Andrew said, to compete with the big boys in the conference, to compete with the Celtics. We compete with the Milwaukee Bucks of the World, the Heat. They got a little bit closer to them in my mind. I think the Heat are due for a little bit of a regression, but I think this is a good move. I'm glad that we kind of least got one door close to the psyche of the last thing I will ask you, Andrew Higginbotham, what is your best pitch to the city of Cleveland, Ohio, for Donovan Mitchell? What are the things that he has to check out and do now that he's in town? [00:09:14][131.2] andrew hagenbaugh: [00:09:14] Well, obviously you have to go to the bases. You have to go to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Obviously, that's the number one thing that everyone does when they go to Cleveland. You couldn't even venture south and go to the Pro Football Hall of Famer on occasion. I mean, all these places are about 40 minutes away from each other, 45 minutes away. So it's all a great vicinity, Akron, Cleveland. And, you know, we're all very close together. I mean, you can go to Lyman's, get yourself a corned beef sandwich. It's very good. I've got to get a corned beef sandwich. But there's there's so much there's so much to do. Downtown Playhouse Square has a lot of good plays that you can go and watch. So there's a lot to do and there's a lot to see. And I'm sure guys like especially Ricky Rubio, who's been here for a year now, I'm sure he's going to take them around the city and show them around. And I'm sure a lot of these guys are going to be like, hey, listen, we got to do this. Go here, go here. Obviously, you had the major sports team get the Guardians and the Browns right there so you can go to obviously good Team Bond and the Guardians of Browns games. But there's quite a bit to do around the city of Cleveland more than people think there is. [00:10:15][61.0] julian martinez: [00:10:16] Okay. We'll send that clip specifically to Donovan Mitchell tweet at him. And in fact, we're going to put you on top of any and all freeagent discussions for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Andrew Hang about. Thank you for being there. Spokesman But guys, it's not Busters. We want to know what you think of this trade in the comments section below. Do you think that the Cleveland Cavaliers did a send in the Eastern Conference to a team that could make some noise in the title picture? Maybe we miscalculated how good this trade makes them. What do you think Donovan Mitchell is going to do in his first year out there? What about Utah side of things? Do you think this is a win for Utah as well as they try and get better in a full on rebuild leave that will go in the comments we like on this video, Juju talks sports here. I'm joined by 1 to 2. Drew's to Drew's for you, Andrew Hohmann and Andrew Hagenbaugh. Make sure to support them. We got all our social media in the bio below. Stay safe, happy and healthy and we will see you next time. [00:10:16][0.0] [590.1] |
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