“This doesn’t play out, if Ime Udoka were white”: Al Horford’s sister calls out racism in support of former Celtics coach

Ime Udoka has been suspended for a year and probably has had his only year as a Head Coach for an NBA team, but there are some voices in his support.

The NBA world is shaken with drama in the past few days and most of it has to do with the management side of the teams affected.

In the entirety of this week itself, the Suns’ owner Robert Sarver, first got a year suspension from the NBA and after the league-wide criticism of the decision, he decided to put his team up for sale.

Following that Ime Udoka, the Boston Celtics’ charismatic coach who led them to the 2022 NBA Finals has been handed a year-long suspension for unprofessional behaviour within the organization.

The second one though had mixed reactions across the league. And like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Celtics forward Al Horford’s sister is claiming this suspension to be an unjust decision on Ime because of his race.

Also read: “There’s white folks cheating in sports, not just brothers!”: Stephen A Smith hurls race angle amidst Ime Udoka debacle

Al Horford’s sibling shows support for Ime Udoka, believes his hefty suspension has to do with race

Anna Horford has become one of the most vocal and quite famous names in the NBA community since his brother was in Oklahoma City, spending his prime years on the bench.

Since then, she has been a constant buzz for getting Boston’s Big man the respect he deserves. His form last year helped her cause too.

But this time, she has spoken about a more general issue that involves the head coach of Al’s team, who will be seeing time off the court for a year for speculatively having a consensual affair with a woman within the Celtics organization.

This just doesn’t play out the same way if Ime were white. It’s happened & continues to happen on other teams. A successful black man will always be someone the establishment will want to see fail. And women, especially women of color will always be to blame.

Boring.

— Anna Horford (@AnnaHorford) September 23, 2022

Now, If we compare Sarver’s punishment for racist acts and Udoka’s suspension for a consensual affair, getting the same treatment, the latter would look a little harsher.

But, that doesn’t mean that this act of unfaithful and unprofessional behaviour should have gone unpunished.

Also read: “Ime Udoka’s affair was non-consensual”: Richard Jefferson casts doubt over 1 year suspension similar to Robert Sarver’s

Let’s see if Stephen A. and Anna’s voices get more support and the league decides to reduce their punishment for the former Spurs guard.

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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