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Teyana Taylor & Iman Shumpert Are Relationship GOALS
Iman Shumpert and Teyana Taylorweren't looking for each other, but, serendipitously, they're both hard to miss.
It was 2011 whenthe recently drafted NBA rookie and the dancer/model/singer/style muse first crossed paths at a New York party. Taylor, who several years prior had been feted on My Super Sweet Sixteen, needed a respite from her 7-inch Versace heels and was perched on a railing when the 6-foot-5 Shumpert strolled over to say hello.
"Hecame up to me and tried to talk to me, but I was in a relationship, so I kinda like..." Taylor recalled on Vlad TV in 2014, miming not being super-responsive to her future husband's charms. She didn't give him the cold shoulder or anything, she clarified, but "he was turned up, everybody was turned up, and I was just like [shrug], 'OK, thank you.'"
After that, the Harlem-born artistwould see the New York Knicks guard around and "this dude's always so turned up, so outspoken, full of personality," she said fondly. But, "I was in my situation so I never paid no mind, he was just cool."
Finally, as more and more happily-ever-after stories seem to begin these days, a well-timed Instagram comment left on one of Taylor's posts promoting the 2013 edition of the Dyckman summer streetball tournament in Manhattan inspired her to call Shumpert to see if hewould play.
He couldn't make it, but he did do a menswear shoot for her styling company, one of many irons in the fire she had going then (and now).And not long after that, she was out grocery shopping in Harlem when she decided to call him, and it turned out he was at home, and she was a block away from his brownstone.
Shumpert told her to come up—so she did, only to find him hobbling around, fresh from an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee.
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"So I went over, and this dude's walking around limping," she remembered. "I walk in, I'm like, 'Who's taking care of you? Who's here?!' He's literally limping around, nobody helping him, like nothing." (His brother had been there but had to go back to Chicago to see his son.) "So that whole week I was coming over every day, making sure he was good" and it was "so amazing."
Taylor had just been through a "really bad breakup," she told Vlad TV, and he was recently single, and one thing led to another...
"We were just really there supporting one another," she said. "Two people that wasn't looking for that wind up happening."
Shumpert went on to amass more than 1,530 career rebounds, but this off-court pickup was the one that really mattered.
Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Roger Dubuis
"I had finally just dealt with her friend zone s--t," he said with a laugh on the Dec. 29, 2020, episode of Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles'Knuckleheads podcast. "Like,she had tried to friend-zone me the whole time, I wasn't going for it. After awhile, I was just like, 'Alright, I don't care no more.'"
So he played it cool, even talking casually about other women in front of her. But, he concurred, a week after that photo shoot, she called him, came over and that was that.
"We been locked in" ever since, Shumpertreflected, fondly remembering all those home-cooked meals and how he'd come home from injury rehab to find Taylor and her girlfriendshaving a ball while whipping up lasagna and tacos.The Chicago-area native loved how Taylor had a similar routine as he did: Do what you have to do for work and then gather with your nearest and dearest.
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They went public as a couple in 2014 (Was it a coincidence thata JanuaryNew York Timesheadline read"ShumpertRediscovers HisShot, and His Smile"?) and they've been together ever since. Immediately theimpossibly fashionable duo started providingendless eye candyat music, fashion and sporting events,Taylor releasing her debut albumVIIthat Novemberthrough Island Def Jam and Kanye "Ye" West's GOOD Music label.
Remembering the first time he saw Taylor perform,Shumpert marveled recently on Power 106's Power Morningshow her fans helped prevent her from toppling over.The 5-foot-4 singerhad been precariously standing on a rail to hold courtabove the ground-level stage, and when "she was getting ready to lose her balance," he recalled, her security grabbed one leg and her fans grabbed the other, "and she didn't look down."
"I told her it was like her Jesus moment a little bit," Shumpert said. "'Nobody's going to let you drop, stumble, nothing, and they sang every word with you.'"
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Harper's BAZAAR
Shumpertsuggestedin 2015 that the showEmpire, about an R&B music mogul and his power-mad family, had ripped off both his and his partner's images, telling a reporter for Northeast OhioMedia Group, "They're using my girl's character, her style, her look and she's not getting anything for it. They didn't even change her name. [Singer Serayah played an artist named Tiana Brown.] They could have at least let my girl audition for the part instead of stealing her character completely."
"And come on, man," he continued, "they're really using a guy with a flat-top like me. Come on. That's ridiculous. They never called us. We were blindsided. We found out by our family and fans when the show aired."
That being said, Shumpert continued, "Her fans are more mad about it than I am. I'm a ball player, but that's her field. That's what she does. Me personally, I don't plan on taking any action but I don't know about her." (Ultimately nothing came of it and Shumpert issued a statement a few days later relaying that he didn't appreciate a headline being made out of a couple of minutes of literal "locker room talk after a great team win."
That great win, meanwhile, had come with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where Shumpert landed after a January 2015 trade.
Going from the 5-32 Knicks to the LeBron James-led Cavs would lead to the most winning stretch of his NBA career—and his personal life was shaping up rather nicely as well.
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That September he and Taylorrevealed they were expecting their first child together, and during a royalty-themed baby shower in November at Cleveland's Museum of Contemporary Art, Shumpertproposed with a dazzling rose-shaped ruby engagement ring.
"Thank You @imanshumpert for putting the color back in my life! I love you so much," the bride-to-be shared on Instagram.
Theirdaughter Iman "Junie" Taylor Shumpert Jr. arrived a month early, on Dec. 16, 2015, Taylor spilling all the details on her bathroom-floor deliverywith Shumpert by her side.
"Not knowing I was in labor until I felt her head...it took two ten count pushes with my fiancé playing Dr and she entered this world into his bare hands!" the new mom shared on Instagram the next day. "Eyes full of tears and barely able to speak to the emergency operator @imanshumpert tied a pair of red headphones around the umbilical cord and the ambulance made there [sic] grand entrance 5 min later. She opened her eyes right away, gazed into mine and never cried! He handed her to me wrapped in our bath towel and wiped her face for me to see what LOVE really is."
Talking to reporters after he'd seen Shumpert for the first time since Junie's birth, teammate James said, per ESPN, "I told him I don't text message those moments. I went in and gave him a real professional grown-man handshake, not the handshakes that y'all see us do all the time. But I gave him a dad handshake and congratulated him on that, and it's pretty cool."
And as if Shumpert's first Father's Day as a dad in June 2016 wouldn't have been special enough,the Cavs won Cleveland's first-ever NBA Championship that night as well.
Meanwhile, as she built a name for herself as a solo artist after years of choreographing and guesting on other rappers' tracks, Taylorreceived a major boost in recognition when her longtime mentor West showcased her in the 2016 Flashdance-inspiredmusic video for his song "Fade," her jaw-dropping movesbecoming instantmeme fodder and leaving wide-eyedadmirers clamoring for her fitness secrets.
Andweren't people startled to find out she'd just had a baby nine monthsbeforehand—and that her workouts were "lazy." (Nevertheless,her Fade2Fit programlaunched months later.)
"I love to dance and my daughter likes to dance, too," Taylor shared with W after the video's August 2016 debut during the MTV Video Music Awards. "It's Club Junie all day. It's so cute watching her try to dance to the beat. When I'm recording, I really just want to be with my family—my husband, my grandparents. You know, fun stuff."
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She also didn't really mind all the focus on her body, or as it was more popularly known, her "post-pregnancy body."
"It feels good to know that you can inspire other women," she said. "I think that's dope and it also makes mothers around the world feel great to know that it's possible. Even for mothers-to-be who are afraid. Females are motivated, and it's always good to see other females that motivate us. Motivation is key, so I'm happy that I can be motivational. I want people to know: Yes, mothers are superwomen. Literally. If it wasn't for mothers, we wouldn't be here today. We get the cool points."
And after months of barely looking in the mirror while she was focused on taking care of her daughter, seeing herself in the video, she toldEllewith a laugh,"I was like, 'Oh, damn, that does look good.' It really inspired me. I realized I have my friendships, I have a relationship, and I have [a child], and I'm still able to be sexy."
In fact, Taylor—who won the VMA for Best Choreography the following year—insisted that audiences were really responding to her mom vibes.
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"I honestly don't feel like 'Fade' would have had the same effect had I just been 21, hot body, single," the then-25-year-old toldPaper."It was more than just dancing in a sports bra and a thong."
"You can be superwoman," she added. "You can have it all, that balance in your relationship, your family and your career. It's the opposite of the cliché that says kids will slow you or your career down." And you are forgivenfor forgetting thatShumpert and Junie both showed up in "Fade," too, but Taylor credited West for recognizing and appreciating her young family's journey, saying, "I think that gave him the idea of wanting to see us all in the video together."
She in turn released a remix of West's "Champions" and walked in his Yeezy Season 4 runway show on Roosevelt Island during New York Fashion Week. And when she wasn't busy modeling, Taylor and Shumpert were sitting front row in matching outfits.
Mireya Acierto/Getty Images for New York Fashion Week: The Shows
"For me, a lot of stuff—dropping albums, tours —is in the summer and spring when his season is over," Taylor explainedtoPaper. "During winter time, I get to be more on his side, supporting him, and during the summer he supports me. So it's the perfect balance."
She called Junie (whoatthis moment has 607,000 Instagram followers) their"good luck charm. She's just been everything. From the moment I got pregnant with her to the day she was born, it's been all positives, all greatness, all iconic."
Taylor and Shumpert quietly wed on Oct. 1, 2016, and picsfrom their special day (which Taylor didn't share for a month) showed the bride in a red leather jacket reading "I do" on the back, the groom in a matching jacket reading "I do, too" and Junie in a pint-size version that read "Oh!...Me too."
"Love is an emblem of eternity; it confounds all notion of time, it effaces all memory of a beginning, and all fear on an end..... #TimelessLove #My2FavPeople #Hitched #Adayiwillneverforget #TB,"Taylor wrote.
The family made their off-season home in Atlanta, and that's where their second daughter, Rue Rose Shumpert, was born—like her sister, in the bathroom and unable to wait another minute.
"At 3:28 am on Sept 6th 2020 Rue Rose decided that the baby shower thrown for her and mommy was too lit," Shumpert wrotein sharingtheir happy newson Instagram. "She didn't make the party but she managed to make the next day her birthdate!!!
"Now…when we buy homes, we always find a bathroom with great energy… but not in a million years would you be able to tell me we'd deliver both of our daughters in a bathroom without the assistance of a hospital! Our newest edition entered the world in the water and came out looking around and ready to explore!"
The athlete concluded, "A healthy child. A little sister. Another daughter. Black love wins….again. Welcome babygirl…we love you!"
Just three months beforehand Taylor had released her third studio album,The Album, featuring appearances from Shumpert and Junie, as well asall-star assists from Erykah Badu, Kehlani, Big Sean, Lauryn Hill, Future, Rick Ross, Quavo, and Missy Elliott.
Injuries have hamperedShumpert'sbasketballcareer, which after three years in Cleveland included unmemorable stints with the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets. But though he still considers himself an active player (his last deal was a 10-day contract with the Nets in February), hehassegued seamlessly into a different kind of spotlight. He and Taylor starred onin 2021(their first season was on VH1) andon Nov. 22, 2021, he becamethe first-ever NBA player to winDancing With the Stars, claiming the mirror-ball trophy with partner Daniella Karagach.
Talking about the origin of his own moves, Shumpert said on Power Mornings that he used to sort of mimic what he saw on the dance floor at clubs—but that was nothing like his wife's uncanny artistry. "She could mimic anything," he explained. "She could wake up, yawn and sing Adele's high notes."
He acknowledged that both he and Taylor had surprised a few people over the years with what they could do.
"We as people, we have these moments where we're like, 'I can't do that,' and I don't look at it like that," Shumpert said, noting that there was even a time years ago when he didn't know how to play basketball, either (or, for that matter,fold up a stroller or put a baby seat in the car). "But that don't determine whether you could do it or not...A lot of times people are looking at me and my wife, sort of like, 'Let me see if he falls on his face!'"
But just as he mastered all of the above, "I gotta learn how to dance," he said. "Teyana may want to go to a ballroom dance one day, so I picked up a little skill!"
He was alwaysinterested inrapping, his experience playing basketball and living that NBA life inspiring his lyrics, but he admitted he never had any desire to perform until he saw the power of what Taylor could do onstage.
ABC/Eric McCandless
And when Shumpert was announced as the winner of DWTS, his wife, who'd been on tour (hence her absence from the ballroom), cheered him on virtually, writing, "THE LEVEL OF PROUD I AM IS TEWWWWWW MUCH TO EVEN PUT IN WORDS!!! WOW...congrats @imanshumpert @daniellakaragach i am proud but NOT shocked!!!! YALL GOT THAT! AS YOU SHOULD! WELL DESERVED!! Thank you for trusting one another, believing in one another, killing that s--tevery week & most importantly foot working that mutha f--king mirror ball home!!!!!! PERIOD! Congrats guys!!!"
Shehad been busy working her tail off, too, so much so that she landed in the ER suffering from utter exhaustion and reluctantly had to miss a show in Connecticut after, as she shared in a Nov. 28, 2021, Instagram post showing her in her hospital bed, her body "simply gave out."
"[Y'all] have seen me with a broken foot and all types of other crazy s--t but still got on that stage and bodied it..." Taylor wrote. "But honestly you have to listen to your body and know when to sit down; or it will definitely sit you down...mine sat my ass down in the ER for sure but I've since got the proper fluids and nutrients put back into my body all night/morning & will take the next few off days to continue to recover."
On Nov. 30 shewasback on stage for her tour's final stop—purposely in Atlanta. Because from there it was just a quick drive to home, sweet home.
These days it's her acting career that has her jetting all over, including to the Sundance Film Festival last month for the premiere ofA Thousand and One, starring Taylor as a woman who kidnaps a 6-year-old boy from foster care and tries to make a good life for him. Shumpert and their girls joined her on the red carpet, the winning foursome incoordinated Thom Browne designs.
Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features
The 32-year-old is also in the upcomingWhite Men Can't Jump remake and the period piece (as in 29 A.D.)The Book of Clarence,and sheturned heads Feb. 13 at LaQuan Smith's fall 2023 show during NYFW.
Shumpert, 32,has had recurring roles on Showtime'sTwenties andThe Chi, telling Salon Talkslast summer, "Right now I'm just in more of an entertainment part of my life." But onscreen and off, he noted, "I try and do everything with grace. I do everything with intention, intention to be successful."
In an essay forEbonylast year, he and Taylor said their goal was to build generational wealth.
"We're young and what I respect about Iman and my dynamic is that we empower and push one another to be better versions of ourself all across the board," she wrote."I love that our relationship goes beyond just support, we hold each other accountable to be greater. We are the example for our girls."
Paras Griffin/Getty Images
But even thoughso much of their love story has been on display since the beginning, Shumpert and Taylor keep plenty for themselves—and even when the cameras are rolling, they don't try to be anything they're not.
Askedthe secret tomaintaining a successful relationship in the age of social media, Taylor told Cam Newton on BET'sSip 'n Smokein April 2021 that you simply "manage it." She explained, "When you lovesomeone, when you're actually human and you're not doing it for social media or for what people think, you live that."
"We have kids to raise, he's doing his thing, I'm doing my thing...I think it's the perfect balance. We don't get to see each other much, but when we dosee each other, it's always..."
Her little dance of excitement said it all.
Catch up on full episodes ofWe Got Love Teyana & Imanhere
(Originally published Dec. 4, 2021, at 5 a.m. PT)
