If you’re a fan of celebrity gossip about NBA stars and their personal lives, this weekend was for you. Personally, I tend to think none of this stuff matters and the mere breaching of conversation on the topics is entering into an uncomfortable level of judgment in matters we hardly have any facts on. Illegal acts? Sure. Those represent their city, their team, and can have real impacts on the image of the league and the availability of its players. But these stories really have nothing to do with sports. Alas, they are news to some, so they are here.
Our first contestant is Steve Nash, who announced that he and his wife would be divorcing a day after their third child was born. Nash and his ex-wife had been together for nine years, married for five, and also have twin daughters to go along with the newborn son. Apparently the divorce had been a longtime coming, and both plan to work together in the best interest of the kids, according to a publisher’s release. In a way, delaying the announcement of the longtime-coming divorce until the day after the birth of their son was a brilliant move. You get all the PR hubub out of the way over a weekend, all in one swoop, and instead of Nash being hit with criticism for divorcing his pregnant wife, he comes off in a much better light. Those that will criticize will criticize, but that’s kind of the way it goes.
Lamar Odom’s instance is substantially less congenial. Odom is suing his ex-girlfriend whom he has a 9 and 12 year old child with (via the New York Post). He and the defendant also suffered the loss of a 6-month-old son who died of sudden infant death syndrome. Odom’s announcement comes days after he and new bride Khloe Kardashian started making noise about naming their future kids. The mother is claiming Odom has continually ignored the kids, even after the death of the 6-month-old. She also doesn’t want the kids to appear in Odom and Kardashian’s new reality series.
We don’t know anything about any of these relationships, but that’s what’s up.