The recent one-year suspension for Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has ignited deeper conversations about the private relationships that NBA players have – often with other NBA personnel.
One NBA player opening up about his own experiences is former NBA champion Nick Young. Appearing on VladTV, Young recounted an incident in his rookie season with the Washington Wizards where he and then-teammate Andray Blatche both slept with same Wizards cheerleader.
Young recalled that after the team found out about the affair, the cheerleader was fired. In the aftermath, Young and Blatche were blamed for her termination.
“It happened to me when I was a rookie. Me and Andray Blatche she was messing around with. I think it was one of the cheerleaders or an assistant. They found out and (when) we came to the gym, people were blaming us like it was our fault because she got fired or something like that…” Young said.
That’s a lot to take in.
The broader point appears to be that there’s a different standard for the players who get into relationships with people on the team and the people they get involved with themselves. That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.
But it does somewhat show that the NBA and NBA teams clearly don’t like it when players get involved with people inside their organizations.
It’s the way those things are handled that has people asking questions right now.