Nia Long sends a cryptic message about taking the high road following her high-profile split from her fiance Ime Udoka.
In September, the basketball coach was embroiled in a scandal after the Celtics suspended him for the entirety of the 2022–23 season for multiple policy violations.
It was quickly revealed that he was involved in an improper intimate relationship with a woman on the Celtics staff.
Though the relationship was originally believed by the organization to be consensual, an investigation from a law firm found Udoka made unwanted comments toward her.
In a recent social media post, Nia gave some poignant advice with a quote that was seemingly directed at her ex.
“The best revenge, is no revenge, Move on. Be happy,” she wrote, along with a heart emoji in the caption.
Long’s post came days after Udoka was named the head coach of the Houston Rockets following his termination from the Boston Celtics last year.
At the time, Udoka issued a statement apologizing to his family, but that wasn’t enough for some NBA insiders.
Stephen A. Smith says Nia Long deserves an apology from Ime Udoka
Sports journalist Stephen A. Smith defended Nia and said she was the victim in the publicized affair with her fiance.
“Even if they’re not together, that is the father of her child,” Smith said on his K[no]w Mercy podcast about the former couple’s split following the affair going public, continuing:
“If you mention him and another woman, inevitably, she’s going to come up. How come nobody thought about the sister? How come they just left her out there standing on her own? I will always defend her. I will always defend her on this issue. It was- how could you do that?”
“You didn’t have to do it that way. But to have a press conference and put this business tacitly or otherwise on Front Street, you didn’t think about Nia Long at all.”
Smith accused Udoka of only thinking of the woman he had an affair with and said the actress was the real victim in the scandal.
Nia Long said Ime Udoka’s affair ‘devastated’ their son
Long and Udoka, who share a son, Kez, began dating in 2009 and got engaged in 2015 before splitting in 2022.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nia blasted the Boston Celtics for making a “very private situation public.”
She also revealed that she took her son out of school when the news broke, and he was left devastated by his father’s affair.
The actress also criticized the Boston Celtics organization for not calling to check on herself and her family before or after publishing the affair in the media.