Nia Long says it’s hard raising her youngest son without his dad, Ime Udoka. The 52-year-old actress separated from Udoka after he cheated on her with a Boston Celtics employee.
Udoka was suspended from his job as Celtics head coach for a year in 2022. Long moved to the Los Angeles area with their 11-year-old son, Kez Udoka and her eldest son, Massai, 22.
While giving an interview with New York magazine’s The Cut, Long called her new life a “rebirth.” She and Udoka split after dating for 13 years.
The single mother addressed that she Is exhausted by the life swap and assuming the characters of both parents to her youngest son. “For the last 22 years, I’ve been pouring out. However at a certain path, you’re like, Woo, I’m looking a little tired,” she says. “Even if I can’t see it, I can feel it. So I try to pour into myself and let everyone know this is a ‘do not disturb’ period.”
Nia has been seeing Spencer Means, a real estate power broker based in Manhattan. Even though she’s in a relationship again, Long struggles to raise her youngest son without his father.
My only focus right now is my youngest son ’cause he’s having a really hard time. I’m sure I have some stuffs that I’m suppressing, but I have to do that to take care of him first before me. That’s the giving. It’s natural. I’m definitely sure I’ll have to circle back with myself several times to reconcile stuffs. But the one stuff I’m attempting not to harbor is anger.”
Long is not happy with the Celtics organization for throwing her under the bus last year. She told the Celtics’ treachery as “a gut punch.”
“The Celtics made a choice to make my family business official, and I don’t understand why,” she told The Cut. “It could’ve all been handled internally. I do understand why, but I can’t talk about it. Maybe one day I will. You know, fear drives stupidity, and I’ll leave that right there. I’ve learned that I’m stronger than I ever thought I was.”