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Relembrando o linchamento do adolescente negro de 14 anos Emmett Till no Mississippi e Fazendo Udoka Tommy Dorfman.
A source exclusively confirms to PEOPLE that Long, 51, and Udoka, 45, have ended their 13-year-relationship after the former Boston Celtics head coach allegedly had an affair with a female subordinate within the team’s organization.
“The situation is unfortunate and painful, but Nia is focusing on her children and rebuilding her life,” a fonte diz.
A rep for Long also confirms the couple are “no longer together but remain fully committed to co-parenting their son [Kez].”
The couple’s split comes after the Boston Celtics held a press conference in September to address Udoka’s suspension.
“eu penso 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 contado The Hollywood Reporter Semana Anterior.
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Randy Shropshire/WireImage
Em setembro, just weeks before the start of the 2022-23 Temporada da NBA, the Boston Celtics emitiu uma declaração on Udoka’s immediate suspension from the team. No momento, they said Udoka had violated “team policies,” and noted his future with the team will be evaluated.
Shortly before the Celtics statement went live, ESPN relatado that Udoka had a “role in an intimate relationship with a female member of the franchise’s staff.” PEOPLE later confirmed the allegations.
Udoka later gave a statement para ESPN’s Malika Andrews on the alleged relationship. “I want to apologize to our players, fãs, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down,” ele disse. “I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision.”
His message concluded, “Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.”
Long issued her own statement exclusively to PEOPLE following the news.
“The outpouring of love and support from family, friends and the community during this difficult time means so much to me,” Long said to PEOPLE. “I ask that my privacy be respected as I process the recent events. Above all, I am a mother and will continue to focus on my children.”
Long and Udoka had been engaged since 2015 and share one child together, 11-year-old son Kez.
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The actress and the former head coach first met in February 2010 when Udoka was a professional basketball player with the Sacramento Kings. Long was in Boston filming a pilot for NBC, Udoka was playing against the Boston Celtics and a mutual friend set them up, de acordo com Boston Globe.
Em junho 2011, Long and Udoka exclusively revealed to PEOPLE that they were esperando seu primeiro filho juntos. Long was already mom to son Massai from a previous relationship, but the new addition was Udoka’s first child. Their son Kez was later nascermos em novembro. 7, 2011.
During their relationship, Long was adamant how “marriage is not a priority for me,” dizendo Essência in their August 2012 issue she had “never seen a marriage work” and that marriage didn’t define a successful relationship for her and Udoka.
“I don’t feel less loved or less loving because I’m not married,” ela disse na época. “I worked hard to have the career I wanted, but I’ve also been deliberate about my personal life. None of this is a mistake.”
VÍDEO RELACIONADO: Nia Long bate o Boston Celtics, Diz 'Ninguém’ Ligou para 'ver se estou bem’ Depois do escândalo de Ime Udoka
Mandy Moore e Shane West revelam segredos sobre seu romance adolescente icônico, Udoka and Long ficou noivo em maio 2015. Ainda, the pair had no plans to rush down the aisle, with Long telling a TMZ Sports reporter the following June that they were “taking our time” with wedding planning.
She shared similar sentiments in December 2020 em Essence’s Yes Girl podcast, revealing that they didn’t need the labels of husband and wife to know that they’re “in a partnership.”
Long added, “Love is complicated … and then you start a marriage, que eu nunca fui casado. E há uma razão para isso, porque eu não sei se preciso dizer 'sim’ to prove to you that I love you. Mas também, o que o casamento realmente [significa] ... que você me possui agora e eu possuo você? Eu não entendo essa parte.”
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Maddie Malhotra/Getty
Em junho 2021, Udoka was named the head coach of the Boston Celtics after serving as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets.
Long had also been busy with her own career in Hollywood, which currently includes starring in Peacock’s limited series The Best Man: The Final Chapters, and the films Searching with Storm Reid and You People with Eddie Murphy, Jonah Hill and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
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Because of their jobs, the pair lived in separate states for a while, with Long and her son in Los Angeles and Udoka in Boston. Contudo, Nia had recently moved her family to Boston to be with Udoka. She has since moved back to LA with her son.