Nia Long shares cryptic video as partner Ime Udoka is supended by the Celtics for affair with staff member
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The longtime partner of Nia Long and Boston Celtics coach, Ime Udoka, has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. It has been alleged that the 45-year-old former player was involved in an “improper intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the team staff,” which violates the franchise's code of conduct.
The basketball team announced his suspension in a statement, saying, “The Boston Celtics announced today that the team has suspended Head Coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 season for violations of team policies. A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date. The suspension takes effect immediately.”
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Amid this on Wednesday night, September 21, the actress shared a video on her now-disappeared Instagram Story, which showed “sunshine striking the trees in a lush forest,” reports said. The social media post also included a message that read, “When you see people change their whole life and start walking down a path of enlightenment, hugging trees, connecting with nature, loving themselves, embracing positivity, letting that light shine, understand one thing: that light that you see, understand one thing about that light: they had to go into the darkness to get it.”
The video, which apparently was re-shared from another account called Omology, added, “No shadow, no light, know shadow, know light.” Long and Udoka have reportedly been together since 2010 before getting engaged in 2015. In 2011, they also had a son together named Kez Sunday Udoka. About her pregnancy, she had said earlier, “I was supposed to go to Ghana to do a film and that's when I found out I was pregnant. I had a doctor's appointment to get the yellow fever shot and they were like, 'Miss Long, we can't give you a shot.’”
After her pregnancy was confirmed, Long added, “I almost fainted. It was the best moment and the sweetest surprise ever.” Then in 2020, the ‘Big Momma's House’ actress revealed that she and her partner are happy without getting married. She had told Essence, “Love is complicated, let’s just start there. And then you start a marriage, which I’ve never been married. And there’s a reason for that because I don’t know that I need to say ‘I do’ to prove to you that I love you. But also, what does marriage really [mean]… that you own me now and I own you? I don’t get that part.”
“I understand the religious aspect of marriage. That is beautiful and it’s fantastical and it’s dreamy and it’s every girl’s fantasy to have that moment. But I don’t know that I need that to feel like I’m in a partnership that’s working,” Long had asserted.
Meanwhile, Udoka has also reportedly issued a statement from his side that read, “I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down. I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team's decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.”