Evelyn Lozada took to Twitter last night during the airing of the Basketball Wives LA reunion to ‘correct’ Gloria Govan’s claim that she is the real reason the show exists. In her tweet, Lozada said, “I just need to make something CLEAR! It is because of @ShaunieONeal creating BBW Miami, Shed Media & @VH1 that there is a “SPIN-OFF”#CarryOn I usually don’t comment & stay in my lane, but the truth is the truth! SMH.” The former Mrs. Chad Johnson certainly did not stay in her lane and made sure that the Twitter-verse knew just why Basketball Wives LA was created.
Shaunie O’Neal, the show’s creator and executive producer, had this to say in response to Lozada’s tweet. “Thank u Boo! I’ve been telling myself 2 put the phone down#iwontaddresstrash lol.” Ouch. Apparently Lozada has O’Neal’s back, even after the recent threat that she wouldn’t return to the show unless she received a hefty raise.
The real question is: Why did both women get so upset that Govan stated what some fans think is the truth?
For those who don’t follow the Vh1 series, Basketball Wives began in Miami with Gloria, along with Evelyn Lozada and Shaunie O’Neal, as one of the original cast members. Her then-fiance Matt Barnes was traded to the LA Lakers and Ms. O’Neal cast Govan as one of the lead women to headline the Basketball Wives LA franchise. Despite their differences, Shaunie had to think Govan would make good TV so she cast her. Maybe fans would have watched if she was not on the show, but it’s reasonable that Govan would think her claim is at least partly true.
The new Mrs. Matt Barnes made the inflammatory statement last night during part one of the Basketball Wives LA reunion show. Govan made the comment after another cast member, Bambi, explained her fabulous-ness (for what seemed like the millionth time last night) and justified why she should be on the show. If one of the cast members thought Gloria’s comment was untrue or out of line, they certainly didn’t speak up. Outside of a few audience hecklers, the set practically fell pin-drop silent when Govan basically said, “If if weren’t for me, Basketball Wives LA wouldn’t exist.”
The younger Govan hasn’t been on the show much these days and her on-screen nemesis Bambi, (doing her best impression of Hottie from Flava of Love), did her best to remind her of that. In one of the final scenes, Bambi took a shot at Gloria, saying that she was boring and that’s why she’s not more included in the filming. Gloria remained defiant during the entire exchange.
Gloria wasn’t well-liked on the original Basketball Wives and it seems she’s making no friends on her spin-off show Basketball Wives LA. It was rumored that she, along with several other cast members, were set to be released from the show to make room for new, more exciting cast members. That rumor was spurred on, in part, Govan’s decision not to include the Vh1 camera crew during her wedding to Matt Barnes. The couple wanted it to be a private moment, sans camera crews, and they made it happen. Some fans were upset by that, but others (including myself) think she has the right to keep certain areas of her life private; especially when her relationship has been held to public scrutiny in the past years.
The whole Bambi vs Gloria feud will continue next week on part two of the Basketball Wives LA reunion show. In the meantime, are you team Bambi, team Gloria or team “Cancel Basketball Wives LA”?
