As the new season of Basketball Wives LA heats up, we are learning a bit more about the ladies and their pasts. Laura Govan made a splash in the premiere after she attacked fellow cast mate Malaysia Pargo. After the smack down, the two women maturely (shocking!) discussed the situation and vowed to move forward with their friendship. Laura blamed her anger on a bitter break-up with her long time love, Gilbert Arenas.
In a recent interview, Laura opens up about reconciling with her ex, the drama behind the show, and why she’s more than what you see on the VH1 show. Check out her interview with Essence.com below.
We don’t know much about you except what we read on blogs and see on the show. Who is Laura Govan?
One thing is that I’m a dedicated mom of four. I’ve played basketball all my life. I coached on a college level and I attempted to play overseas, but I was injured. It was time for basketball to end for me. I worked for the Golden State Warriors, which is where I met Gilbert [Arenas], my fiancé. Then I got my masters in Sports Psychology. I was in a masters PhD program but I started having children so I stopped. I’ve had four kids in five years. My youngest is three months old.
You refer to Gilbert as your fiancé. You two are back together?
Yes, we are, and we plan to get married soon. When and where, I don’t know yet. I feel like we’re already married though, ten years, four kids later. People say he’s a mess, and I’m a mess. You know what, we’re each other’s messes. Everybody has breakup and make-up moments. It just so happens that ours is out in the public. You learn to grow. At this point in our lives Gilbert and I have been there, done that; the drama, the chaos. We’re older now, and we’re more mature. Now we’re better parents, and we’re taking the steps to make things better. Regardless of our past, we want our kids to see a good future.
You got a lot of flack for fighting Malaysia on the first episode of “Basketball Wives: L.A.” Looking back, what goes though your mind?
I think it’s horrible. We look uneducated… it was just a really bad look. I feel bad because when you get to know her she’s a good person. On her side, it was a defense situation, and on my end, I was just going through a lot and she happened to push the wrong buttons that day. I feel like had it not been her that provoked me, it might have been someone else. As soon as the altercation ended, there was a little boy there, and I saw my son in him. I just started bawling. That’s when I thought, ‘you know what, I need to go see a counselor.’ I need to start taking steps to take care of myself. For the past five years I’ve had baby after baby. People ask me, ‘do you have postpartum depression?’ I don’t even know what that is. Then the chaos with Gilbert… it’s just been a very chaotic time.
What do you think of the criticism of the “Basketball Wives” franchise?
I think it’s right, to a certain extent. The producers do what they need to for TV. It’s really sad that people want to see us fighting, pulling each other’s hair out and arguing. But you have to pick and take. There’s a lot of good things about us as well, some of us are businesswomen, authors, designers. My sister Gloria is doing a bunch of things. I have a clothing line for after pregnancy. We all have things going outside of what people see for entertainment. I think it’s fair, I think its TV, its entertainment. Don’t go to church talking about it, don’t go watching it for morals, don’t go to church praying for us. [laughs] No, do pray for us. Don’t take it there, it’s just entertainment.
In other Basketball Wives: L.A. news, it has been revealed that Draya Michele isn’t the only cast member with allegedly shady parenting skills. After breaking the story on Draya, MediaTakeOut.com is alleging that cast mate (and pot stirrer) Imani Showalter may have some skeletons of her own in the closet. As you may recall, Imani is having a hard time accepting Draya into the group because of her questionable past.
It’s being reported that when she began dating basketballer Stephen Jackson, Imani told him she only had one child, although in fact she had two children. Apparently Jackson was notorious for dating women with no children, so Imani didn’t want to ruin the potential relationship by revealing that she had multiple children.
According to a source, she had her son live with his father’s family while she pursued a two-year relationship with Jackson before calling off their wedding when he requested she sign a prenuptial agreement. There is no word on whether she regained custody of her son after her relationship crumbled. And she had all those things to say about Draya? It’s a pot/kettle situation if I’ve ever seen one!
A new episode of Basketball Wives: L.A. airs tonight at 8:00 PM ET on VH1.