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Boston Celtics: A grim update on suspended head coach Ime Udoka and Nia Long

By Andrew Hughes

It isn't looking likely that suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka will get the mother of his children, Nia Long, back (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
It isn't looking likely that suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka will get the mother of his children, Nia Long, back (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Things aren’t looking good for suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka in pretty much every aspect of his personal and professional life after he was found to have had an affair with a member of the Cs organization.

The prospect of Udoka ever returning to an NBA sideline in a head coaching capacity — and likely as a member of a franchise’s support staff — is not one betting on. Boston’s coach during their first NBA Finals run in 12 years is likely a one-and-one as a head coach.

As for his personal life, it appears as though the public humiliation caused by this scandal likely cost him his fiancée, Nia Long. Given the open status of their relationship, it’s not the ‘cheating’ that caused Long to let out a chuckle when paparazzi pressed her to spill the beans on if she and Udoka were working things out, but likely the hurt it could have caused their shared son and the rest of her family for the story to become such headline news. Udoka choosing to get involved with a member of the Boston Celtics organization who was booking her flights, and possibly even getting involved with more than one member of the organization, did seemingly irreparable damage.

Per MARCA, Spain’s national daily sport newspaper owned by Unidad Editorial, Long deleted any trace of Udoka on her Instagram page except for one photo of just him in celebration of him making it to the 2022 NBA Finals in his first season as Boston Celtics coach.

Boston Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla has golden opportunity ahead

The lack of Ime Udoka on the Boston Celtics sidelines was thought to be something that could sink the team’s chances in 2022-23, but interim head coach Joe Mazzulla committing to using the same schemes should help the team regain momentum it doesn’t seem to have lost based on preseason results and what has been seen during training camp so far. Even the C’s one preseason loss came after the starters took a seat and players who have already been released took the floor.

Assuming that momentum carries over when the team kicks off the upcoming campaign, Mazzulla could be in the catbird seat to keep his job after the season — especially since Udoka isn’t walking through that locker room door in 2023.

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