Ime Udoka's reported affair with a Celtics staffer cost him at least a year on Boston's bench -- now, it seems to have cost him his longtime relationship with actor Nia Long.
Udoka and Long have gone their separate ways in the wake of the scandal that led to Udoka being suspended by the Celtics for the 2022-23 season, PEOPLE reported on Tuesday.
The breakup comes after 12-plus years together, with the former power couple sharing an 11-year-old son. They became engaged in 2015 but never married.
A spokesperson for Long told PEOPLE that she and Udoka "are no longer together" but remain committed to co-parenting their son. Long also has a teenage son from a previous relationship.
In September, the Celtics announced Udoka's suspension for violation of unspecified team policies. ESPN had previously reported that Udoka was being punished over an "intimate relationship with a female member of the franchise's staff."
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic's Shams Charania initially framed Udoka's infidelity as "consensual," but Charania later seemed to contradict that characterization when he reported that the woman had accused Udoka of making "unwanted comments toward her -- leading the team to launch a set of internal reviews."
Upon being suspended, Udoka apologized to the Celtics organization, players, fans and to his family for "letting them down."
Meanwhile, Long recently criticized Celtics' handling of the situation.
“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,” Long told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was devastating, and it still is. He still has moments where it’s not easy for him.”
Udoka and Long were set up by a mutual friend in February 2010 while Udoka, then playing for the Sacramento Kings, was in Boston to play the Celtics, and Long was in town to film a pilot with NBC, the Boston Globe reported last year.
The couple had lived separately at times during the course of relationship owing to their schedules, but Long had recently moved to Boston to spend more time with Udoka, PEOPLE reported, and was seen at TD Garden throughout the Celtics' run to the NBA Finals last season. She has since returned to Los Angeles following the breakup, according to the outlet.
Meanwhile, Udoka's NBA future remains cloudy. Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla has the Celtics off to an impressive 20-5 start, while previous reporting has cast serious doubt on whether Udoka would be permitted to return to the Celtics given the nature of the situation. The Brooklyn Nets reportedly explored hiring Udoka after firing former head coach Steve Nash in the early days of the season, but instead promoted assistant Jacque Vaughn.
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