American professional basketball player Dwight Howard has had a busy and unstable love life, unlike his career, which has earned him some of the most coveted awards in the sports. The eight-time NBA ALL-Star began his career with the Orlando Magic and quickly became one of the most celebrated NBA stars. Outside the basketball court, he made headlines for his relationships and frequented courtrooms to resolve disputes with the mother of his kids. Howard has five children with five women: Royce Reed, Christine Vest, Hope Alexa, Tiffany Render, and Melissa Rios, who died in March 2020, which was also the same year he married Te’a Cooper.
The defensive rebounder currently playing overseas for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League has been romantically linked to other people, including Marion Denis Douglass, Camilla Poindexter, and Masin Elijé, a gay man who has insisted he dated the basketball player. Elijé called Howard out on social media platforms in 2018, alleging that the NBA star harassed and threatened him after he ended their relationship. In all these, he only exchanged marital vows with Te’a Cooper, and here’s their love story.
Who Is Dwight Howard’s Wife Te’a Cooper?
Te’a Cooper is also a professional basketball player. Born on April 16, 1997, in Newark, New Jersey, she attended McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia, where she played basketball and bagged three Georgia 6A State titles. After high school, Cooper played college basketball at the University of Tennessee, the University of South Carolina, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas. In April 2020, she was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury to play in the WNBA but was soon cut loose due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Los Angeles Sparks came for her, and she played for the team until 2021—when she became a free agent. While her career isn’t over, it’s unlikely she would ever equal Howard’s attainments. The eight-time NBA-All star and NBA champion is also a five-time NBA rebounding leader, three-time NBA defensive player of the year, and two-time NBA blocks leader. More so, he has been named to the All-NBA First Team five times and currently dominates the T1 League as the most valuable import.
Dwight Howard and Te’a Cooper Began Dating In 2018 And Got Engaged In 2019
How the basketball players met isn’t clear, but it’s conceivable their passion for basketball attracted them to each other. Several reports have it that they began dating in late 2018. At that time, Te’a Cooper was in college, playing for the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team. Dwight Howard, on the other hand, was playing for the Washington Wizards based in Washington, D.C. They kept their relationship discreet and avoided the media, but it did little to keep their relationship away from the limelight.
Theirs was a fast-paced romance, as they took the relationship to the next level barely a year into it. Reports emerged in August 2019 that they were getting engaged, to the surprise of many. Considering Masin Elijé’s allegations, it is not hard to see why the engagement was regarded in some quarters as a front for Dwight Howard to hide his true sexuality. There were also concerns about the 12-year age gap between the two: while Dwight was approaching his 34 birthday, Cooper was 22 when they got engaged.
They Secretly Got Married In 2020 And Parted Ways The Following Year
Dwight Howard and Te’a Cooper openly embraced their relationship after their engagement. They shared loved-up pictures on their social media pages and were spotted together in public several times. While their fans awaited a wedding date, it emerged in November 2020 that they secretly got married. Howard later confirmed this during an interview with The Rematch podcast. He told the host he would love to return and play for the Los Angeles Lakers because of his wife. “My wife plays for the Sparks, so it would be great for both of us to still be in the same city and play,” he said.
He further dwelled on his married life, asserting that it has changed him. “…It’s new for me; I’ve never had a situation like that, but I’m very happy… it just changed my life. When you have a really great woman behind you— on your side, it just seems to make everything better. So I’m very grateful for her and how she’s just been like my rock and my foundation,” added the basketball player. Sadly, their marriage crumbled barely a year into it. Cooper confirmed their breakup on Instagram, imploring the public to stop associating her with the NBA champion. She’s now dating American football running back, Alvin Kamara, whereas Dwight Howard is presumably single.
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