In case you missed it: Retired NBA star Iman Shumpert is now a champion in two sports, basketball and ballroom dancing. The former Brooklyn Net won the 30th season of the dance competition show Dancing With The Stars with his professional partner Daniella Karagach, becoming the only NBA player in the show’s history to qualify for the finals and to win the competition.
Iman Shumpert just won Dancing With The Stars! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/CY1eNkTi64
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) November 23, 2021
Online, though, some have begun to credit his impressive win (in week 6 of 10, he and Karagach scored a perfect 40 in the contemporary dance category) to his marriage to R&B singer/dancer/choreographer/director/producer Teyana Taylor. The two share two children, have appeared in many of Taylor’s videos together, and also star in a reality show on VH1, Teyana And Iman. With her impressive list of accomplishments, as well as her expertise in the field of dance, fans came together to joke that her stern tutelage was a big contributor to Shump’s success, making her name trend on Twitter in the process.
teyana prolly had him in the studio every day like "BOOM KACK BOOM KACK KACK" and it paid off. love that for them https://t.co/ya7W137kz4
— folu (@notfolu) November 23, 2021
Of course, considering what the response would have been if were the roles reversed, no one should have a problem with the jokes, as men are often credited for the accomplishments of their famous female partners (sometimes, headlines erase their partners’ names entirely, reducing women to just athletes’ wives and girlfriends). If we can poke a little fun at a rich and famous athlete and the patriarchy at the same time, I’d call that a win-win for everybody.
Teyana wasn’t letting him back home if he didn’t! 😍👏🏽 https://t.co/jQNioiAdvQ
— J*jo S*wa is 39 years old 💇🏼♀️👱🏻 (@arieella_) November 23, 2021
Check out more of fans’ responses to Iman’s win below.
https://twitter.com/spkspo/status/1463136742589014023
https://twitter.com/jordan_abryelle/status/1463024052788871173
Wasn't about to let @TEYANATAYLOR or @MissyElliott down.
Shump is Champion Again! #DWTSfinales https://t.co/PXn6vKzwZI— EncourageOneAnother (@EncouragedOne) November 23, 2021
You already know Teyana was making sure his moves were crisp like she Joe Jackson. https://t.co/DDZXGDirS6
— Rashad Your Chubby Friend (@OptimusGrind__) November 23, 2021
https://twitter.com/4PLAYYGRL/status/1463110953650855940