{"id":1209937,"date":"2022-09-23T18:37:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T18:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/09\/23\/nia-long-breaks-silence-on-stunning-ime-udoka-cheating-scandal\/"},"modified":"2022-09-23T18:37:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T18:37:59","slug":"nia-long-breaks-silence-on-stunning-ime-udoka-cheating-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/09\/23\/nia-long-breaks-silence-on-stunning-ime-udoka-cheating-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Nia Long Breaks Silence on Stunning Ime Udoka Cheating Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>An unexpected and sordid scandal has rocked the worlds of both entertainment and professional sports.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the Boston Celtics took the very unusual route of suspending its head coach, Ime Udoka, for the entirety of the 2022-20223 season.<\/p>\n<p>It did so because Udoka \u2014 who led the team to the NBA Finals this past year \u2014 allegedly violated team policies\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 by sleeping with a fellow employee.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript\/><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"996\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-458909 lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-642464824-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption>Nia Long and Ime Udoka attend BET Presents the American Black Film Festival Honors on February 17, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe Boston Celtics announced today that the team has suspended Head Coach Ime Udoka for the 2022-23 season for violations of team policies,\u201d the squa announced in an official press release on Thursday, September 22.<\/p>\n<p>A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date. The suspension takes effect immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to various NBA insiders, Udoka had been carrying on a consensual affair with someone on Boston\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n<p>According to TMZ, meanwhile, Udoka was aware that his bosses had learned about this relationship all the way back in July \u2014 and yet he didn\u2019t say a word to Long as she moved the couple\u2019s son with her to Boston just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"668\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/gp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-172009343-668x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-458911\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"668\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-458911 lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-172009343-scaled.jpg\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption>Actress Nia Long and former basketball player Ime Udoka arrive for the 2013 BET Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on June 30, 2013.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe outpouring of love and support from family, friends and the community during this difficult time means so much to me,\u201d Long has now said in a statement. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI ask that my privacy be respected as I process the recent events. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbove all, I am a mother and will continue to focus on my children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The actress and Udoka have been engaged since 2015. <\/p>\n<p>They welcomed a son named Kez Sunday Udoka  in 2011. (Long has another son, 21-year-old Massai Dorsey II, from a previous relationship with actor Massai Dorsey.)<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/gp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-1387539777-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-458912\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-458912 lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GettyImages-1387539777-scaled.jpg\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption>Nia Long attends the ESSENCE 15th Anniversary Black Women In Hollywood Awards highlighting \u201cThe Black Cinematic Universe\u201d at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on March 24, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett\/Getty Images for ESSENCE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Following the news of his suspension, Udoka gave a statement of his to ESPN reporter Malika Andrews.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team\u2019s decision. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOut of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><noscript><img alt=\"\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\" class=\" lazyload\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Hours after the news broke on Thursday, Long postedd a cryptic message on her Instagram Story, alongside a video of a peaceful nature scene. <\/p>\n<p>The caption read as follows:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you see people change their whole life and start walking down a path of enlightenment \u2014 I\u2019m talking about hugging trees, connecting with nature, loving themselves, embracing positivity, letting that light shine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An unexpected and sordid scandal has rocked the worlds of both entertainment and professional sports. On Thursday, the Boston Celtics took the very unusual route of suspending its head coach, Ime Udoka, for the entirety of the 2022-20223 season. It did so because Udoka \u2014 who led the team to the NBA Finals this past [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1209938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1209937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrity-gossip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1209937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209937\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1209937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1209937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1209937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}