'more people need to know her name:' Basketball Wives gets its first WNBA WAG
meet Natasha and Jac'Eil Howard
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I begin my conversation with Natasha Howard and her wife, Jac’Eil, by telling them that I was surprised I hadn’t seen much (read: any) coverage of Jac’Eil’s casting on VH1’s Basketball Wives Los Angeles.
Not only is Jac’Eil the first WNBA wife or girlfriend (WAG) to appear on Basketball Wives in its 17 seasons across three franchises, season 11 featured Jac’Eil and Natasha’s wedding. I just can’t imagine a professional men’s athlete getting married on reality TV and it not being featured all over the place.
“I know, and I’m pissed!” Jac’Eil says of the lack of coverage. “The whole reason I did the show is because I want more people to know Natasha’s name.”
Natasha Howard, a Virgo, is a forward for the Dallas Wings (though her post-season Instagram post makes it seem like we may see her in a different uniform next year). She is a three-time WNBA champion, a WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, a WNBA Most Improved Player, a two-time WNBA All-Defensive First Team, two-time EuroLeague champion, and two-time Turkish League Champion. Jac’Eil Duckworth Howard, a Capricorn, is an entrepreneur and self-proclaimed “hair genius” who has her own line of hair products.
The pair met two years ago in Las Vegas. “I approached Tasha,” Jac’Eil says. The two talked but nothing happened at the time because both of them “had something else going on,” says Jac’Eil. Eventually, they reconnected and once they did, it was “quick.”
“Everybody thinks we got in a relationship soon as we started talking, but we didn't,” says Jac’Eil. “But me and Tasha was so in love we was like, we're gonna make our anniversary the day we met.”
I spoke to Natasha and Jac’Eil over Zoom from their home in Mississippi. Natasha left later that afternoon to play overseas for Çukurova Basketbol in Turkey.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Out of Your League: Jac’,Eil, you're the first WNBA partner to be on Basketball Wives, and the only one on this season. What has that been like for you? Do you find that there's any disconnect or cultural differences between you and the NBA partners?
Jac’Eil Howard: It's a big culture difference, and not so much as them treating me any kind of way, because they love me. They embrace me, they never judge. I think it's more of the WNBA is so different from the NBA, so it's kind of hard to be on the show when I'm the only WNBA wife and the dynamics are so different.
Sometimes I feel like I'm not understood, and it's not like in a bad way. It's just like they understand the NBA side. It's different with me. So with the WNBA, I taught them a lot of stuff and they was willing to learn. They wanted to know more about the WNBA, because they love Tasha but it is kind of like a disconnect for me in a sense.
OOYL: What are the biggest differences that you see come up between you and the other wives?
JH: I had explained to them that our life is totally different. Like, Tasha doesn't get an off season to have fun. She plays year round just so she can have enough money saved up in case she wants to retire. So that's a big difference, because they've been with NBA players. They get the off season, they get to rest their body. A lot of times, me and Tash are traveling back and forth to see each other. So that's one of the main disconnects that I think is between us, because they didn't understand it. They didn't even know that.
OOYL: And especially with this season, we see you planning your wedding and there's so many times that you're doing that on your own, because Tasha can't be there with you. What is that like for you, Tasha, to not be able to be there for something like planning your wedding?
Natasha Howard: Frustrating. Because when she called me or FaceTimed me, I could see all on her face that she's stressed out and overwhelmed when it comes to our wedding planning by herself. That was one of the special moments for both of us to do it together, but since I wasn't there, I feel kind of bad. Like, ‘Dang, I wish I could have been there for you and help you out with the wedding.’ But I had to do it while I was overseas, and it was hard, because I wanted to be hands on just as well as my wife was.
OOYL: Can you talk a little bit about the decision to even do the show in the first place and why it felt like that was something you guys wanted to do?
JH: I honestly did the show for Natasha.
I've changed a lot of my life. I don't like a lot of confrontation anymore. I'm more spiritual. I just try to stay grounded. But I feel like Natasha deserves so much more recognition in this world, in this league, just her as a player in general. She’s a three-time champ. She has so many accolades, and nobody really talks about it. So I took this opportunity. I said, ‘Well, you know what? I'm gonna do it for Natasha, because I feel like she needs to be seen more, she needs to be heard more.’ So I did it for her.
OOYL: This is really interesting that you're saying that because I think there's two things that are happening here. From a cultural standpoint, there's not a lot of representation of lesbian relationships, healthy lesbian relationships, Black lesbian relationships on TV. But then, from strictly the WNBA and sports media side, we see certain players get a lot of coverage when there's 144 players in the league.
So it feels like both of those things are coming together in terms of the decision to do this show.
JH: Yes, absolutely.
OOYL: And Natasha, you've been, I think, fairly private. Was it hard for you to decide to be on camera and put your relationship out there like this?
NH: Yeah, I was kind of nervous about it. I was shocked. I'm like, ‘Wow, they want both of us on the show?’ It was cool. But I've been watching [the show] for a little bit and I'm like, ‘They too much drama. Oh my God, I hope you don't be in this type of drama with the girls.’
But I was excited, too. I like my personal life private, but I also want the world to see our relationship, our connection that we have with each other. And also the LGBTQ community, I want them to see this is what true love looks like and also Black love, too.
OOYL: I think it's important! As you know, there's just about a quarter of the league that is openly queer and the number is also probably much higher than people who have talked about it publicly. It's such a cornerstone of the WNBA. It's not just a women's league. It's a predominantly Black league and it's a largely queer league. That's the culture. You can't really erase that. I think that's something else that makes it different from the NBA.
NH: Yeah, it does.
OOYL: Having your wedding on TV is also pretty cool. Can you talk about what that was like for you to have that moment get that kind of spotlight?
JH: Well, first, me and Natasha, that was just our wedding for TV. We really got married, but that was our wedding for TV. We have another wedding overseas with our family. We just decided we didn't want our entire family to be on TV, because it can be so stressful at times. People say so many mean things on social media no matter what kind of person you are. You can be a good person. You can do the right things. They still gonna say mean things on TV.
But it was just something that we wanted to do for our following, too. We wanted to show it because our wedding that's going to be overseas, there’s not going to be any cameras. So we wanted to do something for our following to just show them that you don't have to have this extravagant wedding to show that you love a person. We planned it so fast.
She was still overseas and as soon as she came in, the next day was our wedding, and she left the next day to go to the WNBA. So we haven't even had a honeymoon. This is our life. It's nonstop.
OOYL: Jac’Eil, let's focus on the WNBA season, because that's what just ended. How many games will you typically be at over the course of the season?
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