Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka to pay Nia Long $32K in monthly child support

Nia Long and her ex-fiancé Ime Udoka have finally reached a child custody agreement. According to PEOPLE, the Houston Rockets coach has agreed to pay the veteran actress $32,000 in monthly child support for their 12-year-old son, Kez.

The agreement comes after Long, 53, filed paperwork in August seeking legal and physical custody of their son after alleging that Udoka wasn’t doing his part to support their son. The former couple ended their relationship in December 2022 following allegations that Udoka – then coach of the Boston Celtics – cheated on Long with a married team staffer.

Per the terms of the agreement, the joint custody arrangement between the Friday actress and Udoka, 46, will remain in effect – though Long has been granted sole physical custody. Udoka, on the other hand, will have reasonable visitation rights because of his travel schedule with the Houston Rockets. 

“Udoka shall have reasonable visitation with Kez, which may take into consideration Kez’s schedule and concerns but shall not prevent or interfere with Kez’s visitation with Udoka,” the documents state. 

Should Kez need to travel to visit his father, those bills will be paid by Udoka. The 46-year-old will also have to cover the travel expenses of his son’s nanny as the pair would move together during such arrangements. 

“If the parties are unable to agree upon Udoka’s visitation with Kez, they shall consult and work together with Kez’s treating therapist to encourage the visits with Udoka, and the therapist will inform the parties of what is best for Kez.”

The former couple also reached an agreement concerning vacations and holidays. The documents state that “the parties shall share or alternate holidays when Udoka is available and Udoka may have up to three non-consecutive weeks of vacation time with Kez each year, which may take into consideration Kez’s schedule and concerns but shall not prevent or interfere with Kez’s visitation with Udoka.”

“The parties shall notify each other of their intended summer vacation time with Kez no later than April of each year,” the documents state.

Long and Udoka got engaged in 2015 before going their separate way about seven years later. In the wake of the cheating scandal, the former NBA player stepped down as coach of the Boston Celtics.

Long, in a subsequent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, condemned the actions the Celtics took in response to the scandal. She told the news outlet that the basketball franchise had failed to call to check if she or her two sons were OK. 

“If you’re in the business of protecting women — I’m sorry, no one from the Celtics organization has even called to see if I’m OK, to see if my children are OK,” she said at the time. “I think 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.”

Udoka in April also broke his silence and touched on the scandal. “I released a statement months ago when everything happened and apologized to a lot of people for the tough position I put them in,” he said, per Sports Illustrated.

“And I stand by that and I feel much more remorse even now towards that. I spent this last offseason working on myself in a lot of different ways, improving in areas, and it gave me a chance to sit back, reflect and grow. And I think that’ll make me a better coach and overall a better leader. But the situation, the matter’s been resolved and I can’t really speak much about it.”

Asked about what he did to improve, Udoka said: “Just having that time off and really a full understanding of how many people you impact by a poor decision where you start with the ownership and accountability.”

He added: “I preach that to the players and so I have to take responsibility for my part in it. I took leadership and sensitivity training and some counseling with my son to help him improve the situation that I put him in. You can grow from adversity and I think I’ve done that this year if you spend it in the right direction or take the right steps.”