For years, Khloé Kardashian’s dating life has been a headline magnet, especially when professional athletes are involved. From championships to scandals, her relationships often blur the line between sports and celebrity culture. Now, one former NBA player with deep ties to Minnesota is speaking out, and he’s claiming that dating Khloé didn’t just make for reality TV drama, it actively damaged his basketball career.
Khloé’s romantic history includes some of the biggest names in the league. She famously dated James Harden, married Lamar Odom, and later built a family with Tristan Thompson. But before those high-profile relationships, she briefly dated Rashad McCants, a shooting guard who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their relationship, and eventual breakup, even played out on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, bringing NBA locker-room energy straight into reality TV territory.
That crossover is exactly what McCants says became a problem. In a recent interview with Basketball Network, the former Timberwolves player opened up about how dating Khloé Kardashian impacted how he was viewed within the league, especially as someone playing in a smaller market like Minnesota.
Khloe Kardashian Ex Claims She’s To Blame For Downfall Of His Career
According to McCants, the NBA landscape was very different at the time. Social media branding, influencer deals, and off-court celebrity opportunities weren’t embraced the way they are today. “Well, because the broadcasting deals in the social media outlets are now a part of the NBA,” he explained. “So, it’s not a distraction. But before, it was a distraction, and the powers didn’t want players to do anything outside of the NBA that would be considered a distraction.”
He went on to describe how limited players’ public lives were back then. “You didn’t see a lot of guys doing music. You didn’t see a lot of guys in fashion shows, didn’t see a lot of guys dating celebrities and being in movies,” McCants said. “There were only a select few guys, and they were all high-profile guys.”
That distinction mattered, especially for someone like him. “So, for me, to not be a high-profile guy and be in a small market in Minnesota, it was more of a distraction than a compliment,” he added. In his view, dating one of the most famous women in the world didn’t elevate his profile; it raised eyebrows and created skepticism about his focus.
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McCants says he ultimately “paid a price” for the relationship, believing he was ahead of his time when it came to blending sports and celebrity culture. While today’s NBA players regularly partner with major brands and date influencers without consequence, McCants feels the league wasn’t ready for that crossover during his career.
“Rashad McCants has blamed his short lived relationship with Khloe as the reason his NBA career died, and claims he lost like 70 million because of it. He seems petty and is still using her name for clout,” one person commented on Reddit.
Now, he’s offering a warning to younger players. His advice? Focus on basketball first and save the celebrity lifestyle for later. It’s a perspective shaped by experience and one that highlights how different the league looked for players navigating fame in Minnesota before the social media era changed everything.
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