Nia Long Says Fan Support Saved Her 'Mental Health' After Affair News Broke

Nia Longis slowly but surely getting past the cheating scandal that rocked her life and wants to thank the fans for being her community.

The mom of one is focused on regaining her mental strength since news broke that her man Ime Udoka cheated on her with a Celtics staffer Kathleen Nimmo Lynch. She sat down with Cut magazine and couldn’t avoid answering the hard-hitting questions.

“I’m sure I’ll have to circle back with myself several times to reconcile things, but the one thing I’m trying not to harbor is anger,” admits Long. She has been extremely vocal about how ridiculous she thinks the Celtics are for sharing the information when it could have stayed quiet, mainly because of how it affected the son she shares with Ime, Kez, 11.

“My only focus right now is my youngest son ’cause he’s having a really tough time,” she admits. Long continued to say, “I’m sure I have some things that I’m suppressing, but I have to do that to take care of him first. That’s the giving. It’s natural.”

The support from fans has “saved” Nia according to her. “It saved my mental well-being because I felt uplifted by the community in a way that felt like my family was checking in and making sure I was OK,” she shares, “and that, I appreciated.”

While Ime has apologized for his indiscretion publicly, he was suspended and ultimately let go. “I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision,” he wrote in a statement to ESPN. “Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment.”

Long is disgusted and was “blindsided” by the news. She al believes that Ime only came clean to her because the news was going to be made public. She is equally made at Ime and the Celtics.

“No one from the Celtics organization has even called to see if I’m OK, to see if my children are OK,” she said, calling out the basketball team managers “It’s very disappointing.”

Nia felt like the announcement wasn’t necessary and ultimately put her and her son in the line of fire for embarrassment and tabloid fodder.

“The Celtics made a choice to make my family business public, and I don’t understand why. It could’ve all been handled internally. I do understand why, but I can’t talk about it. Maybe one day I will.”

She also got a tiny dig in saying, “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.”

Ime and Nia were together for 13 years before the rough breakup. This fool never put a ring on it but has her stuck in an engagement for, honestly, who knows how long that engagement would have gone on.

It may be too soon to say so but this seems like a blessing in disguise. The legal paperwork to separate after so long together and the cheating involved is kind of annoying.