It has been a year since Nia Long was thrust into a high-profile cheating scandal between her, her longtime partner Ime Udoka and Boston Celtics staffer Kathleen Lynch. Since then, she has continued to call out her treatment in the situation.
In September 2022, the Celtics head coach was suspended months after taking the team to the NBA Finals. As the weeks followed, more news regarding the reasoning behind the suspension came to light. It was revealed then that Udoka reportedly was cheating on Long with a Celtics staffer.
Rumors of an affair had been circulating months before, but nothing seemed concrete until the suspension was handed down. During the coverage of the head coach’s infidelity, many news sites put Long’s name in the headlines while keeping Lynch’s under wraps.
Not much is known about Lynch, and Long believes there was an effort by the Celtics organization to keep her life private. Lynch reportedly has a connection to former Boston Celtics player Danny Ainge and his daughter, with whom Lynch attended college. Ainge, who has served as chief of basketball operations for the Celtics, reportedly helped Lynch to get her position.
Long has stated before that she feels the media has produced plenty of coverage on her and her children while Udoka’s mistress stayed out of the public eye. In an interview with “The Cut” in February, Long said, “The Celtics made a choice to make my family business public, and I don’t understand why.”
