“What About The Black Woman, Nia Long?” Shaquille O’Neal Shares Stephen A. Smith’s Rant On Ime Udoka

The Ime Udoka ‘scandal’ from the 2022 offseason had the NBA world in a chokehold for quite some time. He had been with his partner, Nia Long, for 13 years and the two share a son together as well. However, after it was revealed that Udoka had indulged in an extramarital relationship, the two went their separate ways. Since then, Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen A. Smith have had varying opinions on the matter over the past few months.

Ime was a first time head coach when he took over for Brad Stevens to become the bench boss for the Boston Celtics. In his first year as a head coach. He led the Celtics to the NBA Finals and was 2 wins away from hoisting a Larry O’Brien trophy.

Unfortunately for him, he was let go as the Celtics head coach after it was revealed he was cheating on Long with a woman who was a part of the Boston Celtics organization. He has now been brough back into the NBA after a season-long hiatus as the coach for the Houston Rockets.

Shaquille O’Neal shares a rant by Stephen A. Smith on the Ime Udoka situation

Ime Udoka recently had his introductory press conference for the Houston Rockets. He would go on to own up to the mistakes of his past and state that he would pass on the lessons he has learned over the past year to his young Rockets players.

Stephen A. Smith has since taken offense to this entire debacle as he believes Nia Long has gotten entangled in the situation. He took to his ‘Know Mercy’ podcast to vehemently state his views on the whole ordeal and it seems as though Shaquille O’Neal agrees with him as he put up the Smith post on his Instagram story.

 

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A post shared by Stephen A. Smith (@stephenasmith)

Shaq seems to share Stephen A’s sentiment on the Nia Long-Ime Udoka situation pic.twitter.com/S5N8GxoWqs

— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) April 30, 2023

Furthermore, Long even replied to Stephen A in his comment section, saying, “Thank you Stephen A. Smith for your support. TBC (to be continued). The most disrespected person in America is the black woman.” The last line is a quote from Malcolm X.

Shaquille O’Neal had no comment on the situation

Shaquille O’Neal famously refused to comment on the Ime Udoka cheating scandal when it first came out due to the fact that he was a serial cheater himself. Him and Shaunie O’Neal were married for 5 years from 2002 to 2007 and divorced one another due to extramarital relationships coming in between the two.

since then, Shaq has not remarried and the 51-year-old seems to be at peace with himself. Shaunie on the other hand, has remarried and even invited her ex-husband to her wedding.