Nia Long is finally speaking about the scandal involving her fiancé, the suspended head coach of the Boston Celtics, Ime Udoka. Long said the scandal was, and still is, devastating for her and her son, and the fact that the Celtics made it public doesn’t sit well with her.
“I went home to be with my son, and that was what was most important to me, because he was not having an easy time,” Long said to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published this week. “I think the most heartbreaking thing about all of this was seeing my son’s face when the Boston Celtics organization decided to make a very private situation public. It was devastating, and it still is. He still has moments where it’s not easy for him. If you’re in the business of protecting women — I’m sorry, no one from the Celtics organization has even called to see if I’m OK, to see if my children are OK. It’s very disappointing.”
Ime Udoka Scandal Rocks Sports And Social Media
As previously reported, Udoka was suspended for the entire 2022-23 NBA season for having an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member. The relationship was a violation of team policy, despite the fact that it was a consensual relationship.
Long and Udoka had been together since 2010 and got engaged in 2015. They have an 11-year-old son.
The entire situation involving Udoka was weird from the beginning, and months later makes even less sense. In 2022 any kind of inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate in the work place is a fireable offense. Why are they holding on with the suspension? Fire him and close the chapter.
Why Haven’t Celtics Reached Out To Nia Long?
The fact that the woman alleged to be involved in the relationship is married to someone else in the Celtics’ business suite is likely playing a role here as well.
Regardless, this is tough for all parties involved; especially the innocent.
That the Celtics haven’t reached out to Long is not crazy. There might be a legal reason they aren’t contacting her. Also, it was Udoka and not her who is a Celtics employee.
Still, it’s been hard for Long.
“I literally felt like my heart had jumped out of my body,” she recalls of the media blitz. “And then what I found was this tribe of women and men who were standing up for me in a way that felt like I was in this bubble of protection, and that was very comforting.”
Who Is Nia Long?
Long, the cultural icon, actress and soon to be director, has several work projects that are keeping her busy. Including the much-anticipated “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” set to air on Peacock later this month as she reprises her iconic role of media mogul Jordan Armstrong. Her directorial debut will eventually come too, as she’s in the early stages of developing a love story set in the 1940s.
“I have to commit myself to that,” she says, “because I think sometimes when so much is happening, it takes your breath away and then it’s like you’re holding your breath, and you feel this angst and this panic of constantly being in fight-or-flight survival mode. I think mothers, Black women, we understand that more than anyone.”
Will Ime Udoka Coach Boston Celtics Again?
As for Udoka, he most likely won’t be back with the Celtics after this season. The team has the best record in the league and is rolling in his absence under first year head coach Joe Mazzulla, who was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October/November. Boston is 18-4, which is tops in the Conference.
