Kevin Garnett has issued a big challenge to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown after the Boston Celtics suspended Ime Udoka for a year.
The Boston Celtics are in a complex position now after their head coach Ime Udoka was suspended by the organization following a violation of the team's organizational guidelines that will keep him at home for an entire year. This situation has been one of the hottest topics around the league, and things get worse by the day.
Meanwhile, the Celtics are getting ready to face a new season, with many challenges ahead, and with more doubts than certainties at this moment. They already named Joe Mazzulla as interim coach for this campaign, which is already a big season why they're full of questions right now.
Besides a new head coach, the players will need to find the strength to go through everything that's yet to happen to them, and a leading voice will be necessary if they want to find success again.
Kevin Garnett Sends Message To Jayson Tatum And Jaylen Brown After Ime Udoka's Suspension
The Celtics played in the Finals last season, and following a series of moves this summer, they were considered favorites to come out of the East again. Well, Udoka's suspension and a couple of injuries now have them in a very complex position. That's why they need a leader and Kevin Garnett recently sent a message to their two best players to rise to the challenge and take this team to compete amid all the bad situations happening right now (4:24).
“The question still here is, who’s gonna lead them now? Is this the time with Tatum or Jaylen Brown to step up? You know, the locker room gotta be, 'man...' Your general isn’t gonna be there for a whole year. Just think about all that promise, all that investment they took on getting to the Finals, and what that year was like. We've all been there, and it's hard as sh*t to get to the Finals. And think about going home as a loser, going home or on vacation and every time being reminded of that sh*t.
"This is when dark times show true self and personnel. This is where people step up, this is when you come out and grow wings,” Garnett said during a September 29 crossover episode of his KG Certified podcast and All the Smoke."
The Celtics entered the offseason as a very promising squad for the future, but now, they could be terrible after all these bad situations. Udoka really clicked with his players last season, turning things around, going on an impressive run to finish the regular season, and then dominating big teams on their way to the Finals. Unfortunately, they couldn't beat the Golden State Warriors, but this season looked very promising for them.
Well, now things are unclear for the Celtics. They still have their core and have added interesting pieces to cover up their injuries for a while. But, if everything isn't as good as last season, they could crash and be just like the 2022 Brooklyn Nets at the end of the campaign.
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