Basketball Wives
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| Basketball Wives | |
|---|---|
| File:BasketballWivesTitleCard.jpg Basketball Wives title card | |
| Starring | Current Wives Shaunie O'Neal Evelyn Lozada Suzie Ketcham Tami Roman (season 2 - ) Kenya Bell (season 4 - ) Tasha Marbury Former Wives Gloria Govan (season 1) Meeka Claxton (season 3) Royce Reed (seasons 1-4) Jennifer Williams (seasons 1-4) Kesha Nichols (season 4) Recurring Cast Eric Williams (seasons 1-3) Ashley Walker (seasons 2-3) Kim Russell (season 2) Juli Richmond (season 2) Nia Crooks (season 4) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 5(Filming) |
| No. of episodes | 51 |
| Original release | |
| Network | Vh1 |
| Release | April 11, 2010 – present |
| Related | |
| Basketball Wives LA Football Wives | |
Basketball Wives is a documentary-type television series that premiered on the VH1 cable television network on April 11, 2010. Created by production company Shed Media US, the series follows the lives of a group of women who have all been somehow romantically linked to professional basketball players. Despite "Wives" in the title, some of the women aren't even married. The show is filmed in Miami, Florida, and beginning with season four, partially in New York City. Season four premiered on February 20, 2012.
The series spawned a Los Angeles-based spinoff that premiered in 2011, featuring former castmember Gloria Govan.[1]
Production
The first season made its debut April 11, 2010 and started off at 30 minutes per episode. The second season premiered with a new cast member, Tami Roman, on December 12, 2010. The episodes were also extended from 30 minutes to an hour. The third season premiered on May 30, 2011 and with a new cast member added to the show, Meeka Claxton. The fourth season premiered on February 20, 2012 at its original time 8/7c with two new cast members, Kenya Bell and Kesha Nichols and the departure of Claxton. After the fourth season, Shaunie O' Neal made major changes to the cast by firing Jennifer Williams, Royce Reed, and Kesha Nichols. VH1 and Shed Media US have yet to officially announce who will replace the women for the show's fifth season. Filming for season 5 is scheduled to begin shooting end of September/Early October and premiere sometime in the spring of 2013.
Cast
Current cast members
- Shaunie O'Neal is the ex-wife of former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal and the mother of his four children. She is the executive producer of the series.
- Evelyn Lozada is the ex-fiancee of Antoine Walker, whom she dated for over 10 years. Since parting ways with Walker, she has focused primarily on raising her teenage daughter Shaniece and running a Miracle Mile shoe store called Dulce. Her courtship with and engagement to NFL star Chad Ochocinco were documented on Basketball Wives; they married in Saint Martin in July 2012[2] and divorced three months later.[3]
- Suzie Ketcham is the ex-girlfriend of Michael Olowokandi.
- Tami Roman (season 2 - )born and raised in Mount Vernon, NY is the ex-wife of former professional basketball player Kenny Anderson. She is also an actress and a businesswoman.
- Kenya Bell (season 4 - ) is the wife of Charlie Bell.
Former cast members
- Gloria Govan (season 1, recurring season 2) was a regular in season one and recurring cast member in season two. She is the wife of Matt Barnes. Govan moved to Los Angeles at the end of season one when Barnes was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers where she was later cast in the spinoff to this show, Basketball Wives LA.
- Meeka Claxton (season 3) was a regular in season three. She is the wife of Speedy Claxton.
- Jennifer Williams (season 1-4) was married to former NBA player Eric Williams. Williams develops a lip gloss line as a business venture. She was raised in South Orange, New Jersey, has worked as a high-end real estate broker and owner of workout company Flirty Girl Fitness. She also supports several charities and founder of Project Save the World.[4]
- Royce Reed (seasons 1-4) is the ex-girlfriend of Dwight Howard and the mother of his son. She is also a former NBA dancer for such teams as the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat.
- Kesha Nichols (season 4 ) She was a New Jersey Nets dancer and had been engaged to marry professional basketballer Richard Jefferson in 2009. She currently runs a New York City dance group.[5][6][7]
Supporting cast members
- Eric Williams is a retired NBA player and was married to Jennifer.
- Kim Russell and Juli Richmond (season 2), wives of retired "NBAers" Bryon Russell and Mitch Richmond, respectively, were also cast for Season 2; however.
Cast history
| Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | |
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| Suzie Ketcham |  |
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| Evelyn Lozada | |
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| Shaunie O'Neal | |
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| Jennifer Williams | |
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| Royce Reed | |
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| Gloria Govan | |
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| Tami Roman | |
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| Meeka Claxton | |
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| Kenya Bell | |
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| Kesha Nichols | |
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| Tasha Marbury | |
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| Brandi Garnett | |
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| Hope Alexa | |
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Recurring cast history
| Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | |
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| Eric Williams | |
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| Gloria Govan | |
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| Kim Russell | |
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| Juli Richmond | |
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| Ashley Walker | |
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| Nia Crooks | |
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Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | Reunion | |
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| 1 | 9 | April 11, 2010 | May 30, 2010 | June 20, 2010 | |
| 2 | 13 | December 12, 2010 | March 6, 2011 | March 13, 2011 March 14, 2011 | |
| 3 | 12 | May 30, 2011 | August 8, 2011 | August 15, 2011 August 22, 2011 | |
| 4 | 17 | February 20, 2012 | May 28, 2012 | June 4, 2012 June 11, 2012 | |
Ratings
The show premiered alongside the new series Brandy and Ray J: A Family Business and What Chilli Wants averaging a 1.0 in the 18-49 demo, reaching 1.6 million total viewers.[8] Basketball Wives Season 2 finale bought in 2.281 million viewers.[citation needed] Basketball Wives Season 3 premiered, attracting 1.828 million viewers.[citation needed] Episode 8, brought in 456.8 million viewers in the initial 8 pm EST airing.[citation needed] Part 2 of the Basketball Wives reunion took in 2.873 million viewers on the premiere.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Seidman, Robert (June 20, 2011). "Basketball Wives LA Cast Revealed". People.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
- ^ Oldenburg, Ann (Jul 05, 2012). "Chad Ochocinco, Evelyn Lozada marry in St. Martin". usatoday.com. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Ex-NFL star Chad Johnson, Evelyn Lozada divorced". Fox News. Associated Press. September 19, 2012. Retrieved Oct 18, 2012.
- ^ "Jennifer Williams Net Worth". therichest.org.
{{cite web}}: More than one of|work=and|website=specified (help); Text "accessdate+5 July 2012" ignored (help) - ^ Pesce, Nicole Lyn (Thursday, July 23, 2009). "Kesha Ni'Cole Nichols forgives NBA star Richard Jefferson for ditching her on eve of wedding". New York Daily News. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ NEEL SHAH and JEANE MacINTOSH (July 15, 2009). "Richard Jefferson Leaves Bride at the Altar". The New York Post. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ "Basketball Wives » Season 4 » Cast › Kesha Nichols". VH1.com. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (April 13, 2010). "VH1 Scores Impressive Ratings With Series Premieres Of 'Brandy and Ray J: A Family Business,' 'Basketball Wives,' and 'What Chilli Wants'". TV by the Numbers.
External links
- Official site at VH1.com