The Best Man actress Nia Long is causing quite a stir online thanks to a post that many believe was meant to call out ex-fiancé and former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka’s alleged mistress.
As previously reported by The Root, the couple split after 13 years together after it was revealed that Udoka had an alleged affair with a coworker. In the aftermath of their uncoupling, Udoka was suspended from the team for the 2022-2023 season for the accusations. Long also called out the NBA organization for the way it handled the news. However, the woman in the alleged affair had never been named—until now.
In a post to Instagram on Tuesday, Long posted a video from a snippet of a conversation between We Can Do Hard Things podcast hosts Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach with guest Dr. Yaba Blay where they discuss how the world treats and views white women’s tears versus Black women’s tears. But where things got interesting was in the caption: “Where was this level of awareness a year ago? @celtics #kathleenlynch.”
Keen-eyed followers noticed that the name in the hashtag matched the name of the woman who allegedly had the affair with Udoka that was initially “leaked out” to the press in the fall of last year—though the Celtics never named who the alleged other woman was and still haven’t to this day. Despite that fact, Long appears to be done with the silence and the mystery and is putting the way the entire situation unfolded—and now Lynch on blast.
“I think the most heartbreaking thing about all of this was seeing my son’s face when the Boston Celtics organization decided to make a very private situation public,” she said at the time the news of the affair came out. “It was devastating, and it still is. He still has moments where it’s not easy for him. If you’re in the business of protecting women—I’m sorry, no one from the Celtics organization has even called to see if I’m OK, to see if my children are OK. It’s very disappointing.”
Back in April, Udoka—who now works as the head coach for the Houston Rockets—expressed “much more remorse” over what transpired, saying in a statement, per People: “I released a statement months ago when everything happened and apologized to a lot of people for the tough position I put them in. I stand by that. I feel much more remorse even now towards that.”
“I spent this last offseason working on myself in a lot of different ways, improving in areas, and it gave me a chance to sit back, reflect and grow. And I think that’ll make me a better coach and overall a better leader. The matter has been resolved,” he concluded.
Long has since filed for legal and physical custody of their 11-year-old son.