Nia Long, NBA coach Ime Udoka’s ex-wife, has filed for primary custody of the couple’s child, claiming he is neglecting to support his son.
The actress and Udoka were engaged but split last year after it was reported that the former Boston Celtics coach had an inappropriate relationship with a colleague employee, Kathleen Nimmo Lynch, who was previously identified as team service manager by DailyMail.com.
Long filed her petition in Los Angeles last week, demanding that a judge grant her primary legal and physical custody of their 11-year-old son, Kez, according to TMZ.
She claimed that Udoka was failing to support Kez, but she did urge the judge to give him a reasonable opportunity to see his son as long as it was ‘compatible with the child’s best interests.’
A decision on the petition has yet to be made, and Udoka has not reacted.
On September 23, 2022, Udoka was suspended by the Celtics for the whole 2022-23 season for his inappropriate relationship with Lynch, which ultimately cost him his job after acting head coach Joe Mazzulla was hired on a permanent basis in February.
Udoka had a consensual relationship with a female Celtics employee. When the controversy erupted, the worker was married with three children, and Udoka was engaged to Long.
According to ESPN, an independent inquiry found that Udoka ‘used obscene language in his communication with a female subordinate prior to the initiation of an illegal working relationship.’
She acted as a team liaison, coordinating travel, housing, and game tickets for Celtics family members at home and away. She most likely coordinated Long’s travel.
The actress, who appeared in Boyz n the Hood, has apparently returned to Los Angeles with their son.
Despite his tarnished reputation, Udoka quickly re-entered the NBA.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the Rockets named the 45-year-old defensive mastermind as their new head coach in April, signing him to a four-year, $28.5 million contract.
After his debut in April, Udoka stated that he and his son sought counseling ‘to assist him develop in the situation that I put him in.’
He said, “I released a statement months ago, when everything happened, and apologized to a lot of people for the difficult situation that I put them in, and I stand by that.” Even now, I feel a lot of sorrow about it.
‘I spent the offseason working on myself in a variety of ways, developing in areas, taking time to reflect and evolve, and I believe that will make me a better coach and leader.
‘But, the problem has been settled, and I can’t say more about it.’
Tilman Feetitta, the Rockets team owner, stated that he did his due diligence on Udoka before employing him on a lucrative contract.
Udoka continued, ‘Like Tilman alluded to, they’ve done their homework on who I am as a person, and I believe we spent quality time together getting to know one other and clicked quite easily and pretty well.