10 Players' Wives Who Are the Queen Bees of the NBA

I've always been interested in how obsessed people have gotten over the wives of NBA players.

How scandalous it is when someone gets divorced and opts for a younger woman (Shaq's guilty of this), or how people will watch that rattrap of a show, Basketball Wives, even though Chad Ochocinco's girlfriend, Evelyn Lozada seems to be the star while not being a basketball wife.

I find it interesting how many of these wives of players have turned their fortune of meeting a person with such a high public profile that they turn it into a business venture, whether they open a clothing line or end up on a reality show.

This is a tiny offshoot sub-culture from basketball that nobody would have predicted happening even five years ago, as the most you heard about a player's love life was a shot of their wife in the stands and a quick mention of her by name.

These days, however, I'm sure there are people out there who can tell you who LaLa Vazquez is but have no idea what Carmelo Anthony looks like.

So, I figured I would look at this obsession a little deeper and find out just who are the most important wives of basketball players in the NBA and which ones end up being shown incessantly during a game just because they're there.

10. Complementary Non-Wife, Ray Allen's Mom

This isn't any basketball player's wife, but my favorite woman associated with a basketball player has to be Flo Allen, Ray Allen's overenthusiastic mother.

We've all seen the mom at a high school basketball game who puts on a t-shirt with her son's number on it, maybe bedazzles it a bit and cheers just a little too much. Flo Allen never really grew out of that stage.

Her son is making millions, and she still cheers her heart out every time she's at a game, and you know what, that's pretty cool.

Of all the people on this list, I think I can honestly say that not one of them give a damn about the outcome of a game more than Mrs. Allen.

She seems like such a cool lady.

9. Keysha Cole

It seems like once every time the Cavs are aired on national television (which is a rare occurrence these days), someone inevitably mentions Keyshia Cole, wife of Cavs guard Boobie Gibson.

Cole and Gibson have been married for nearly a year now, and more so than other recent newlywed NBA couples, these two seem to genuinely like each other.

Gibson always raves about her on Twitter (and he tends to tweet a lot), and she seems to be at a game as long as she's not on tour at a concert. I'd have to say that this is one of my favorite basketball couples out there, but there's no drama between the two, so obviously she doesn't get as much love as she should from the Basketball Wives crowd.

8. Masha Lapatova

First, let's just get past the fact that Andrei Kirilenko, the guy with the face that looks like it belongs to a hawk, married Masha Lapatova, a former pop star in Russia. She's a beautiful woman, and he's an interesting-looking man, but they wound up together in the end.

The thing that most men have heard about Kirilenko's wife is her "free pass" that she gives him. It was a rumor for years before Lapatova said anything about it to the press, and it was always a conversation that got going when you had a few buddies over and the Jazz happened to be on television.

However, about six years ago, Lapatova told the Salt Lake City Tribune that she allows Kirilenko to sleep with one other woman every year.

There's no word, however, on whether Kirilenko exercises this option or not.

7. Monica

It's hard to work out here who is more recognizable to the general public, Shannon Brown or Monica Arnold, his wife and R&B and hip hop star Monica.

Monica has been around the music game ever since she was just 13, releasing her first album at the young age of 15.

Having been married for over a year now, Shannon Brown is still looking for the success on the court that Monica has had with a microphone for the past decade-and-a-half.

6. Tamia Hill

Another big player in the music game, Grant Hill's wife Tamia has been singing since before Grant Hill had even had his first surgery, so you know it's been a while.

Starting out in 1986, Tamia has made a name for herself as an R&B and soul singer over the years, having been nominated for four Grammys.

She has worked not only as a singer, but also as a producer, composer and has done a lot with their community over the years. She isn't seen as much at games anymore as her husband's basketball career is winding down, but there was a time when she was one of the most important basketball wives—back when nobody cared.

5. Adriana Lima

This is the classic, "She married who?" basketball wife.

Adriana Lima is a Brazilian model who has worked for Victoria's Secret and did a bunch of Maybelline commercials over the past decade, but most important is who she's married to.

Lima is married to former Grizzlies forward Marco Jaric who is playing ball in Italy right now, but this is the most surprising wife of a (former) player that I've ever seen, as she's Adriana Lima, and he's Marco freaking Jaric.

But hey, who am I to judge.

4. Savannah Brinson

While they aren't married yet, one of the most talked about and yet least-visible basketball wives in the league has to be LeBron James long-time girlfriend and soon-to-be wife Savannah Brinson.

Brinson is LeBron's girlfriend from high school, and even though my distaste for him as a basketball player and a decision maker has been made public in angry rants from time-to-time, I really have to give him props for staying with his high school sweetheart while in the land of temptation on the road in the NBA.

Brinson has had two kids with LeBron and people always seem to be interested in her, even though she's a private person for the most part.

3. Jackie Christie

He's a retired basketball player at this point, but the sheer amount of insane that permeates to the core of this relationships means it needs to be mentioned and mentioned near the top of this list.

Jackie Christie is one of the most-domineering public figures I've ever seen, and the force of her personality has caused Christie to become this doting house-husband at this point, as he both does all the cooking and home-schools their children.

Jackie has a handle on her man (and always did) when it comes to NBA groupies and other players trying to put a hand on him, as she beat Rick Fox with her purse back in 2002 while Fox and Christie were fighting.

In fact, that's what really introduced the basketball world to Jackie Christie.

2. LaLa Vazquez

LaLa Vazquez is the original when it comes to basketball wives taking advantage of their situation. I'm not saying she is married to Carmelo Anthony for all the wrong reasons, I'm just saying there are advantages to being married to Carmelo, and she took them.

Vazquez was originally a host of various shows on MTV including Flavor of Love reunion shows and I Love New York before marrying Vazquez.

Now, she's become one of the most visible wives of players out there, even flipping a reality show out of their wedding back in 2010. 

1. Khloe Kardashian

It's ridiculous how intertwined Khloe Kardashian has become with Lamar Odom.

Besides their own show, Khloe and Lamar, the two have grown into one entity ever since they got married a few years back.

Even when Lamar got traded to the Dallas Mavericks this offseason, the question that got asked immediately was, "I wonder how Khloe feels about this."

There once was a time when people wouldn't give a damn about these little intricacies surrounding players and their wives, but something has happened between Lamar and Khloe to the point that some people actually care to watch a show about the two every week, and your regular NBA fans haven't been so put off by it that they turn on Lamar like they did Kris Humphries.

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