That’s A Rap #192: Sounding off on Sarver and Udoka

Sep 25, 2022 - 2:00 PM

You know it’s an action-packed episode because we didn’t even bring up Doc Rivers’... ahem... Twitter likes!

Robert Sarver and Ime Udoka were each suspended for the year. The details of their respective punishments were wildly different but caused a media firestorm nonetheless. Players spoke up about harsher penalties. Fans spoke up about how news is broken. It was a fairly depressing week in the NBA — mere days from the opening of training camp.

We chimed in with our thoughts about these topics on the latest episode of That’s A Rap. Make sure to include your thoughts in the comments below.

In This Episode:

3:20 — Soap opera in the Valley of the Sun

After a months-long investigation, Robert Sarver was suspended for one year for disturbing allegations of racism and misogyny. The backlash for his suspension was fast and furious as fans and players alike felt it was not strong enough. How was Sarver’s situation any worse than Donald Sterling’s in 2014 (where he was banned for life and sold the Clippers)?

11:45 — Can Toronto profit from the drama in Phoenix?

Are the Suns and Mercury a packaged deal? I’m asking for a Tanenbaum! If/When Toronto gets a WNBA franchise, they would be entering the league at its highest peak. We didn’t get around to doing our “weekly recommends,” but I would’ve strongly recommended re-watching the entire Aces-Storm series. Riveting basketball!

13:40 — Udoka’s suspension

Was Ime Udoka’s relationship with a female staff member in the Celtics organization consensual? If it was, then why was he the only member of the organization to be suspended? If it wasn’t, then why wasn’t he fired?

22:40 — The itch to break news

The way in which the Udoka news was broken has also caused shockwaves across social media. At what point do the news-breakers say to themselves, “Maybe I should wait for the organization to complete their investigation and issue their own statement”? Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania took turns spilling the Celtics’ tea and, frankly, it was unwarranted. It brought undue attention to the females within the Celtics organization.