Following the NBA Coach’s Alleged Affair, Nia Long and Ime Udoka Ended Their 13-year Relationship
Nia Long and Ime Udoka have called it quits after months of suspicion about their romance.
Long’s agent confirms that the 51-year-old actress and 45-year-old NBA coach have ended their 13-year romance. Udoka apparently had an affair with a female coworker within the Boston Celtics organization, according to the news.
After the suspected relationship was revealed, Udoka was fired as the head coach of the professional basketball team.
Long’s agent tells People, who broke the story first, that the couple is “no longer together but remain totally dedicated to co-parenting their kid.”
The actress started dating Udoka in 2009, and the couple married in 2015. They have a 10-year-old son, Kez, while Long has a 21-year-old son from a previous relationship, Massai.
Long addressed Udoka’s incident in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter just a few days before the breakup news broke.
The actress told the trade newspaper that she recently walked off a set in the middle of production for the first time in her 36-year career.
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The project “didn’t feel well in my stomach,” she said, and “there was also this sense that the business I had to deal with at home is more important to me than educating a white director-producer how to present a Black story.”
“I went home to be with my son, and that was the most important thing to me since he was having a difficult time,” Long explained.
“I think the most upsetting part of it all was seeing my son’s expression when the Boston Celtics organization decided to make a very private problem public,” she said of the Celtics’ decision to hold a press conference to discuss Udoka’s ban.
Long told THR that when the news broke, she took her kid out of school because it was “devastating, and it still is.”
“There are still times when he struggles,” Long continued. “If you’re in the business of protecting women, I’m sad to say that no one from the Celtics organization has checked on me or my children. It is quite disheartening.”
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After Udoka addressed the matter in a statement shared by ESPN’s NBA Today host Malika Andrews, Long addressed the outpouring of support she had gotten in response to the revelation.
In a statement that the actress added, “The outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and the community during this difficult time means so much to me.”
“Please respect my privacy as I ponder the recent occurrences. I am a mother first and foremost and will continue to prioritize my children.”