ESPN NBA commentator Jalen Rose apologized for saying the identity of the Boston Celtics female staff member involved with Ime Udoka should be made public.
The Brooklyn Nets have been in the NBA spotlight for the past week due in part to Kyrie Irving promoting a film with antisemitic tropes on Twitter and head coach Steve Nash parting ways with the team. In regards to the latter, various reports indicate that the Nets plan to hire Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka to replace Nash.
Udoka is currently suspended for the entire 2022-23 season by the Celtics over a violation of team policies, which involved reportedly using crude language towards a female subordinate before the start of an improper workplace relationship.
During ESPN’s NBA Countdown show ahead of the Celtics-Chicago Bulls game, commentator Jalen Rose said that he doesn’t understand why the name of the female employee wasn’t revealed.
“We know his name. Maybe I’m missing something as it relates to the law, but why don’t we know her name? It’s not like she’s a minor, I feel like we should know her name publicly, as well” said Rose.
Jalen Rose apologizes for comments regarding Ime Udoka scandal
During halftime, Rose issued an apology for the comments he made in the show. Shortly after his apology, the feed cut to a commercial.
“I would like to apologize for a comment I made earlier on NBA Countdown,” said Rose. “I questioned why a woman’s name who had an alleged affair with Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was not made public. After an internal investigation, and it was discovered that she was a subordinate to the head coach, I now understand fully why her name should not be released to the public.”
Fans who did not watch NBA Countdown reacted to the apology given by Rose regarding his comments about the female staffer.
An independent law firm revealed the findings of their investigation, discovering that Udoka had used “used crude language in his dialogue with a female subordinate prior to the start of an improper workplace relationship with the woman,” per a report from ESPN senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski. That significantly factored into the Celtics’ decision to suspend Udoka for the season.
This week, reports from Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania indicated that the Nets were finalizing a deal with Udoka to be their next head coach.
General manager Sean Marks said in a press conference on Friday that the team has not made a decision regarding who will replace Nash as head coach.