“Basketball Wives” executive producer Shaunie O’Neal held forth about former NBA player Lamar Odom’s ex Liza Morales joining the season 9 cast of the hit VH1 show during an interview with “Hollywood Life” on Feb. 16. The current cast members include O’Neal, Evelyn Lozada, Jackie Christie, Malaysia Pargo, Kristen Scott, Jennifer Williams, and Ogom “OG” Chijindu.
O’Neal disclosed Morales initially reached out to join the series after making some “personal changes” in her life.The “BBW” OG said, “I’ve known Liza for a while, but I think Liza is just kind of doing Liza right now, in real life. You know, she’s just making some changes for her personally and trying new things, and she reached out about doing ‘Basketball Wives.’”
The 46-year-old added the fashion designer’s “relatable” story of being a single parent made her a good fit for the franchise. “She has a great, great story. She’s extremely relatable to a single parent, a single mom. So I mean, she has a great story to tell that people can relate to. And also, she’s kind of just testing out the waters to see if this is something that she wants to do.”
Morales and Odom share three children, Destiny Odom, 23, Lamar Odom Jr., 19, and Jayden Odom, who tragically passed away at 6 months old from sudden infant deaths syndrome in 2006. Shortly after their son’s death, the couple called it quits over the former Lakers player’s infidelity.
Following their breakup, Odom went on to have a slew of high-profile relationships, including a brief romance with actress Taraji P. Henson in 2009, which abruptly ended because the former reality star fell in love with his future ex-wife Khloe Kardashian.
Odom and Kardashian got married a month after initially meeting. Their whirlwind romance was documented on an episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” called “The Wedding.” The former couple landed their own spinoff called “Khloé & Lamar,” which lasted only two seasons, ending in 2012. Kardashian filed for divorce in 2013 amid Odom’s substance abuse and legal troubles. The divorce was officially finalized in 2016 following Odom’s near-fatal overdose at a brothel in Nevada a year before.
Since then, Odom went on to date and get engaged to trainer Sabrina Parr. The couple called it quits in 2020.
It is unknown if Odom’s ex Morales has dated since their breakup, but “BBW” fans will see how the former couple navigate through co-parenting their two children. O’Neal revealed the “BBW” newbie’s storyline would be life as a “single mom that still has a dad in the picture that’s been a little toxic to her personal lifestyle, and her personal, her living experiences, her living life.”
The reality star added, “She’s been kind of wrapped up in his world so much when it pertains to their kids, that it’s definitely hindered her in her personal world.”
It was announced back in October that Morales would make her debut on “BBW.”
