Nia Long is petitioning Ime Udoka for sole custody of her son, claiming the NBA coach does not support her child
- Nia Long and Ime Udoka were engaged for almost eight years until last year
- It turns out the NBA coach was having an affair with a Celtics employee
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Nia Long, ex-wife of NBA coach Ime Udoka, has filed for sole custody of the couple’s child, claiming he failed to support his son.
The actress and Udoka were engaged but split last year after it emerged the former Boston Celtics coach had an inappropriate relationship with an employee previously revealed by to be team services manager Kathleen Nimmo Lynch.
According to TMZ, Long filed her petition in Los Angeles last week, asking a judge to give her sole custody of their 11-year-old son, Kez.
She claimed Udoka had failed to support Kez, but reportedly asked the judge to allow him a reasonable opportunity to visit his son so long as it was “conducive to the best interests of the child.”
A decision on the petition is pending and Udoka has not responded.
Nia Long, ex-wife of NBA coach Ime Udoka, has filed for sole custody of the couple’s son
Long and the ex-couple’s son, Kez, moved back to Los Angeles after Udoka was suspended
revealed that the Celtics employee who had an affair with Udoka is team service manager Kathleen Nimmo Lynch
On September 23, 2022, Udoka was suspended by the Celtics for the entire 2022–23 season for his inappropriate relationship with Lynch, ultimately costing him his job as acting head coach. Joe Mazzulla was given the job permanently in February.
Udoka had a consensual affair with an employee of the Celtics organization. The associate was married with three children when the scandal broke while Udoka was engaged to Long.
ESPN reported that an independent investigation found that Udoka “used harsh language in dialogue with a female subordinate prior to beginning an inappropriate workplace relationship.”
She acted as a team liaison, arranging travel, accommodation and playing tickets for Celtics family members at home and away. It is likely that she even arranged trips for Long.
The Boyz n the Hood actress has reportedly returned to LA with her son.
But even though his reputation was ruined, it wasn’t long before Udoka landed back in the NBA.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the Rockets announced the 45-year-old defensive guru as their new head coach in April and signed him to a four-year, $28.5 million deal.
Following his revelation in April, Udoka said he and his son went to counseling “to help him improve the situation I put him in.”
Udoka was announced as the new head coach of the Houston Rockets in April of this year
Udoka and Long are pictured with their son Kez (centre) and Maasai son Dorsey II (far right).
He added, “I made a statement months ago when it was all happening, apologizing to a lot of people for the difficult position I put them in, and I stand by that.” I feel a lot more regret for that even now .
“I’ve spent this last break of the season working on myself in many different ways, improving in certain areas, sitting back, reflecting and growing and I think that will make me a better coach and leader.”
“But the situation is resolved and I can’t really say much about it.”
Rockets team owner Tilman Feetitta said he did his duty of care to Udoka before hiring him for a lucrative deal.
Udoka added, “As Tilman has indicated, they’ve done their homework on who I am as a person and I think we had a lovely time and getting to know each other, and we quite liked it.”