Woj Is the Real Villain in the Ime Udoka Story
By now it’s common knowledge that Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka will serve a one-year suspension handed down by the organization for an inappropriate relationship with a female coworker. Here is how most first heard about this entire situation:
Could you possibly be more vague? There are essentially zero facts here. “Possible disciplinary action.” “Unspecified violation.” Dude, it’s your job to find that stuff out before you start presenting it as a story. What is this? It’s sure not reporting.
The graphic is so absurd that looks like parody. Is Woj really so self-important that he needs to shamelessly plaster his name and face all over this? I’ll also mention that I don’t even believe this needs to be a story. This should have been handled internally and not vaguely paraded around to the public. If and when the Boston Celtics suspend Udoka, that’s when you can confirm details. Presenting the flimsiest outline of something that shouldn’t really be a story is bad journalism. Making sure your name and face are prominently displayed before any of the facts are put forward is even worse.
Very Unprofessional Reporting from Woj
It’s incredible to me that Woj is skating by after such irresponsible and reckless reporting. His actions allowed and even encouraged wild speculation before all the facts were presented. This resulted in not only a needlessly public character assassination of Ime Udoka, but also served to drag the names and images of Celtics female staffers through the mud. If you’ve spent any time on Twitter in the last few days, you know exactly what I’m referring to. Brad Stevens echoed this sentiment recently. It was ridiculous and could have been prevented had Woj not done what he did.
This situation should serve as a reminder to everyone that Adrian Wojnarowski does not add anything of value to basketball journalism or discourse. His entire shtick is reporting on things that will be revealed anyway by NBA teams. This most often shows up in the NBA Draft, but people have become so enamored by the Woj Bomb that there is also the illusion of necessity. It isn’t necessary at all – in situations like this it’s actually harmful. It’s sadly ironic that Woj will force feed you his name and face on a highly speculative piece of “news” and then wash his hands of the entire thing when it actually damages the privacy and reputation of innocent bystanders. He is not blameless.
If Ime Udoka violated an organizational policy or did anything remotely criminal, there should be disciplinary action. That goes without saying, but I also shouldn’t be forced to care about this. I don’t need to know intimate details of this man’s personal life. The fact this was even offered for public consumption in the first place is honestly weird.
I did not attend journalism school, but the way Woj has chosen to approach this story is self-aggrandizing and seems like a clear violation of journalistic integrity. But then again, I’m just a lowly college basketball writer.
