Nia Long celebrates fiancé Ime Udoka’s NBA win
The actress is engaged to the Boston Celtics head coach whose team made it to the NBA Finals in his first year
The Boston Celtics are headed to the NBA Finals after the team’s 100-96 win over the Miami Heat in Game 7 on Sunday.
Actress Nia Long, who is engaged to Celtics coach Ime Udoka, hit up social media to celebrate in the aftermath, Boston.com reports. She posted several tweets during and after the win along with a video of her dancing after the game ended — see the clip below.
Long trended throughout the day as social media users trumpeted her man’s victory.
Long and Udoka got engaged in 2015 after first meeting in 2010 while Udoka was an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs. The couple shares a son, Kez Sunday Udoka, who was born in 2011. But Long admitted in a 2020 interview that she’s not getting married anytime soon.
“Love is complicated, let’s just start there,” she told Essence. “And then you start a marriage, which I’ve never been married. And there’s a reason for that because I don’t know that I need to say ‘I do’ to prove to you that I love you. But also, what does marriage really [mean]… that you own me now and I own you? I don’t get that part.”
She continued: “I understand the religious aspect of marriage. That is beautiful and it’s fantastical and it’s dreamy and it’s every girl’s fantasy to have that moment. But I don’t know that I need that to feel like I’m in a partnership that’s working.”
In 2012, Long confirmed that she and Udoka decided “marriage is not a priority.”
“We’re happy, I’m happy, the kids are fantastic,” she said at the time.
Udoka became the Celtics’ head coach last year and Long shared a loving post to honor her fiancé.
“Today you are officially the Head Coach of the Boston @celtics big love to the entire staff for the warm welcome,” Long wrote at the time, according to the report. “I am beyond proud of this man. Expect great things because that’s what he does.”
On Monday, Long celebrated her fiancé after he coached the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals.
“Speechless…. patience and purpose,” Long captioned a photo of her man on Instagram, adding the hashtags “Ime Udoka” and “Blessed and Grateful.”
The NBA Finals will kick off Thursday night with the Celtics going against the Golden State Warriors.
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