On September 22, 2022, the Boston Celtics suspended head coach Ime Udoka for the entire season after an internal investigation uncovered a consensual workplace relationship with a female staff member. Within days, that staffer was identified as Kathleen Nimmo Lynch, a 34-year-old team service manager who had worked for the organization since 2013.
The scandal ended Udoka’s engagement to actress Nia Long, cost him his job, and thrust Lynch into a media firestorm she never asked for. Three years later, Udoka coaches the Houston Rockets with a multi-year contract extension. Long co-parents peacefully with her ex. And Lynch still works for the Celtics, never having spoken publicly about what happened.
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Still on Staff After the Storm
Lynch remains employed by the Boston Celtics as their team service manager. She reports to Mike Zarren, the team’s VP of Basketball Operations, handling the same logistics work she did before September 2022: travel arrangements, hotel bookings, and game tickets for players’ families.
She deleted her social media accounts when the story broke and has kept them private ever since. No interviews. No statements. No public appearances beyond her work duties.
Multiple sources confirmed she stayed married to Taylor Lynch, a consulting associate at Mercer Consulting in New York. Four months after the scandal went public, she was photographed still wearing her wedding ring. The couple has three children: Allie, Emma, and Tay.
The Woman Behind the Headlines
Born in 1989 in Bedford, New Hampshire, Lynch grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She attended Wellesley High School before heading to Brigham Young University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree. A devout Mormon, her faith shaped much of her upbringing and adult life.
At BYU, Lynch met two people who would later influence her career. The first was Taylor Lynch, who became her husband on September 6, 2014. The second was the daughter of Danny Ainge, then the Celtics’ executive director of basketball operations.
That connection helped Lynch land her position with the team in 2013. She worked in basketball operations before the Celtics organization existed as the juggernaut it is today. For nearly a decade, she did her job without anyone outside the organization knowing her name.
Before joining the NBA, Lynch spent time as a marketing coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital. The jump to professional sports came through the Ainge family connection and her own work ethic.
How It All Came Apart
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the story on September 21, 2022. Udoka was facing a “significant suspension” for violating team policies. The next day, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Udoka had “an improper intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the team staff.”
The Celtics hired an independent law firm to investigate. According to ESPN, investigators found Udoka had used crude language with Lynch before their relationship began. She was his subordinate. That power dynamic became the determining factor in how severely the team would respond.
The affair didn’t surface through the investigation. It came to light weeks earlier when Taylor Lynch overheard a conversation on his home’s doorbell camera. He heard his wife talking with Udoka. He reported it to the Celtics.
The timing stung in a particular way. Lynch had helped coordinate Nia Long’s move to Boston that summer. Long had relocated from Los Angeles to be with Udoka after he led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in June 2022. The woman who arranged Long’s travel was sleeping with her fiancรฉ.
The Suspension and Its Aftermath
On September 23, 2022, the Celtics announced Udoka’s suspension for the entire 2022-23 season. Team owner Wyc Grousbeck and president Brad Stevens held a news conference at the team’s practice facility.
Grousbeck said little about the specifics. “I won’t be able to offer many additional facts or circumstances around what occurred and why the suspension is in place,” he told reporters. “Privacy reasons for the people involved is the concern.”
The suspension ran through June 30, 2023. It came with what Grousbeck called a “significant financial penalty.” Joe Mazzulla, an assistant coach, took over as interim head coach.
Udoka issued a statement to ESPN’s Malika Andrews: “I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down. I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team’s decision.”
Long released her own statement through Boston.com: “The outpouring of love and support from family, friends and the community during this difficult time means so much to me. I ask that my privacy be respected as I process the recent events. Above all, I am a mother and will continue to focus on my children.”
She and Udoka shared a son, Kez, who was 10 years old at the time. Long also has an older son, Massai, from a previous relationship. The couple had been together since 2010 and engaged since 2015, though they never married.
Two Different Outcomes
The Celtics made Mazzulla the permanent head coach in February 2023. Any path back for Udoka closed permanently.
Lynch kept her job. The organization never explained why she faced no professional consequences while Udoka lost his position. The investigation found Udoka had used inappropriate language with a subordinate, establishing him as the one who held power in the relationship.
Still, the contrast was stark. Udoka got suspended, then fired. Lynch stayed on staff, doing the same work she’d done for a decade.
On April 25, 2023, the Houston Rockets hired Udoka. Owner Tilman Fertitta said the team investigated thoroughly before making the offer. “The NBA told me that they felt very comfortable with Ime becoming the coach of the Houston Rockets,” Fertitta told reporters. “We’re a forgiving society and everybody makes mistakes.”
Udoka took over a team that went 22-60 the previous season. In his first year, the Rockets improved to 41-41. The 2024-25 season brought a 52-30 record, the Southwest Division title, and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Houston lost to Golden State in seven games in the first round of the playoffs.
In June 2025, the Rockets gave Udoka a contract extension that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA.
The Cost of Going Public
Long filed for full custody of Kez in August 2023. Court documents obtained by E! News stated Udoka had “failed to support” their son. The filing requested “reasonable visitation” for Udoka.
In December 2023, Long told The Hollywood Reporter how the public nature of the scandal affected Kez. “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. It was devastating, and it still is.”
The custody battle settled in early 2024. Long received primary custody. Udoka agreed to pay roughly $32,500 per month in child support.
By October 2025, Long told The Cut magazine she and Udoka had found peace. “This summer, I traveled with my youngest son and my ex, Ime. We had a great time. It was really beautiful because we’ve had a very public journey that has found its way to peace and understanding.”
She said they prioritize co-parenting. “I’m not going to carry burdensome energy with me because that just transfers to my children and it transfers to everything else in my life.”
What We Still Don’t Know
The Celtics never released the full investigation findings. The organization cited privacy concerns, but that decision meant the public never learned the complete story.
Did Lynch face any internal discipline? Unknown. Did the Celtics consider firing her? No one has said. Why did she keep her job while Udoka lost his? The team never explained.
Those questions matter because they involve workplace relationships, power dynamics, and how organizations handle internal violations. The Celtics chose to keep those details private, leaving much of the story incomplete.
What is known: Udoka violated team policy. An independent investigation found he used crude language with a subordinate before starting a relationship with her. The team determined that warranted a full-season suspension and, eventually, his removal.
Three years removed from the scandal, all three people at its center have moved forward in different ways. Udoka rebuilt his coaching career in Houston. Long focused on her sons and her acting work. Lynch continued doing the job she’d held for more than a decade, away from public view.
The woman who spent years working behind the scenes for the Celtics has returned to exactly that: working behind the scenes. Her name became nationally known for a brief, uncomfortable period in 2022. Now, in early 2026, Kathleen Nimmo Lynch is back to being unknown outside the TD Garden walls, which appears to be exactly what she wanted all along.
