More information has come out regarding Boston Celtics Coach Ime Udoka. According to The Jasmine Brand, reports say that Udoka was having an affair with team service manager Kathleen Nimmo Lynch, a 34-year-old married mother of three. Although the Celtics haven’t identified the woman Udoka was involved with, Lynch’s name and photo has been leaked online.
Lynch served as a team liaison, arranging travel, lodging and game tickets for Celtics family members at both home and away games and is likely to have arranged travel for Judoka’s fiancee, actress Nia Long.
Meanwhile, Lynch has long standing personal ties with the team’s former player Danny Ainge, who was the team’s executive director of basketball operations before leaving the franchise last year.
A source familiar with the investigation said that Ainge learned early in the summer that the Celtics had initiated an investigation into Udoka’s relationship with Lynch, but he did not intervene in the investigation or decision to suspend the coach. The source added that Ainge was very disappointed by the affair, especially given the fact they have families.
Lynch reportedly grew up in an active Mormon family and lived Wellesley, Massachusettes. She graduated from college in 2011 and two years later was hired by the Boston Celtics, working under Ainge.
Sources close to Lynch say she’s been left devastated and afraid to show her face publicly, Ainge’s daughter, Taylor — a close friend of Lynch, wouldn’t discuss specifics when contacted by sources but she did urged the media to respect the privacy of the parties involved.
She said, “These are human beings involved that have families and are dealing with a lot of consequences themselves, and they don’t need people and Twitter and the news media making it worse. There’s a reason that people aren’t discussing this. It’s been investigated and it’s over. The Celtics are doing what they have to do.”
She continued, “Ultimately when you run a corporation and you have rules, your hands are tied. It is what it is. I know everyone wants a saucy story, but it’s really just a series of unfortunate events.”