Reality stars come from all sorts of backgrounds with all kinds of passions and interests. We’re here for the hoopers who have served on reality television. Whether they played on a professional court or stayed up in the front office, all of these reality stars have a connection to basketball one way or another.
Basketball Reality Stars
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Two big basketball names showed up on one of the biggest reality hits ever – Kris Humphries and Lamar Odom. Humphries has been out of the picture for years, and Odom also starred in “Khloe & Lamar.”
Humphries played college basketball at Minnesota for one season before heading to the 2004 NBA Draft, where he was selected No. 14 overall by the Utah Jazz. He played 13 NBA seasons for eight different franchises, featuring in 800 total games. Odom played college ball at Rhode Island for one year, then entered the 1999 NBA Draft. The Los Angeles Clippers picked him with the No. 4 overall pick, and he played 14 seasons in the league for four franchises, including the Clippers twice, and most prominently for the Los Angeles Lakers. He won two championships with the Lakers (2009, 2010) and was named Sixth Man of the Year in 2011.
Made
Chantelle Anderson made Avery into a basketball player in Season 9 of Made (2008), and Cedric Ceballos made Breland into a basketball player in Season 10 of Made (2010). Anderson played three seasons in the WNBA for the Sacramento Monarchs and San Antonio Silver Stars after playing college ball at Vanderbilt. Then, she spent a couple seasons as an assistant on the Virginia Tech women’s basketball staff. Her No. 21 is retired at Vanderbilt, and she left school as a three-time First-Team All-SEC player and SEC co-Player of the Year in 2002.
Ceballos played in the NBA for the first 11 years of his professional career, featuring for five different teams from 1990 to 2001. From there, he played for a range of other professional outfits, from the Harlem Globetrotters to D-League teams to stints in Israel and Russia. He was an NBA All-Star in 1995 and won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1992.
The Amazing Race
Cedric Ceballos showed up in another reality show – “The Amazing Race” – this time with another basketball player: Shawn Marion. The two competing together as Team Slam Dunk in Season 30 of the show.
Marion transferred to UCLA in 1998, then was picked No. 9 overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 1999 NBA Draft. He spent 16 seasons in the NBA for five teams, won the 2011 NBA championships with the Dallas Mavericks, was an NBA All-Star four times (2003, 2005-2007) and played in 1,163 games.
Married at First Sight
Matt Gwynne played college basketball at Chattanooga from 2006 to 2008, helping the Mocs win the SoCon regular season crown in 2008. He then transferred to Campbell and finished out his collegiate career as a Camel. Gwynne launched a professional career in 2014, appearing for Jefes de Fuerza Lagunera of the LNBP (Mexico). That started his multi-year career featuring across the Mexican professional basketball circuit, which concluded in 2019.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Adrienne Maloof was a cast member for the first three seasons of the show and has made guest appearances in later seasons, too. The Maloof family owns a number of businesses in the Western United States, and from 1998 to 2013, it owned the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. While it sold the Kings in 2013, the family is now minority owners of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
Dancing with the Stars
Nelly is on “Dancing with the Stars” right now, and he is a part-owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. The rapper first bought into the franchise in 2004 when the team was called the Bobcats.
Temptation Island
Before becoming a reality star, Kareem Thomas of “Temptation Island” played college basketball at the College of Saint Rose, a Division II school in Albany, New York.
Mom’s Got Game
Pamela and JaVale McGee became reality stars with “Mom’s Got Game,” a reality TV show on the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2014. The show detailed the lives of the former WNBA star and NBA-playing son.
Pamela McGee played college ball at USC from 1980 to 1984, winning two national championships (1983, 1984). In 1984, she won a gold medal with Team USA at the Los Angeles Olympics. She was later selected No. 2 overall in the 1997 WNBA Draft by the Sacramento Monarchs. She played for the Monarchs in 1997 and the Los Angeles Sparks in 1998.
JaVale McGee played at Nevada before being selected No. 18 overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. He currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers and won an NBA championship this month, and third of his career (2017, 2018, 2020). He has also featured for the Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors.
The Apprentice
Dennis Rodman was a fixture on several Chicago Bulls championship teams in the 1990s and played in the NBA for 14 seasons for five different franchises – Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Bulls – plus continued his playing career in various other leagues into the 2000s.
In 2009, Rodman appeared in Season 8 of “The Apprentice,” representing the charity Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). He was fired in task 5.
Shaq Vs.
From 2009 to 2010, Shaquille O’Neal was a reality star on “Shaq Vs,” a show that pitted the former NBA superstar against mostly other athletes in various competitions. O’Neal played 19 seasons in the NBA, won four NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006), won NBA MVP in 2000 and played in 15 NBA All-Star Games. He’s currently on “Inside the NBA” on TNT.
Teyana & Iman
Iman Shumpert became a reality star with his show “Teyana & Iman.” The show, airing on VH1, highlights the life of Shumpert and his wife, Teyana Taylor, as they raise their daughter, Junie, and take on the worlds of music, sports and fashion.
Shumpert played at Georgia Tech before being drafted No. 17 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. He has played nine seasons in the NBA for five different franchises – the Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets – and won an NBA title with the Cavs in 2016.
