Before the youngest son of Michael Jordan, Marcus, and Larsa became basketball’s IT couple, Pippen was seen hanging out with Malik Beasley in a brief but dramatic relationship. As a result, that is all that ex-Los Angeles star Nick Young, who’s hoping for a match with Paul Pierce, can remember of Beasley from his time in LA.
A key starter in the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks, Beasley shot a career-high 47% from three. After a disappointing campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers last season, his turnaround has been remarkable. But it isn’t his on-court exploits that Nick Young remembers. Instead, it is his earlier fling with Larsa Pippen that Swaggy P identifies him by.
“But, people do leave the Lakers and start blossoming…What’s the dude that was there who talked to Pippen once? He was in Milwaukee balling,” Young said as he tried to explain that some players did well after their move away from Staples Center. As someone supplied Malik’s name, the entire crew from Gilbert Arenas’ podcast shared a chuckle. The fact that Young recalled Beasley through his relationship with Larsa Pippen tells us about the impact that short-lived relationship had.
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In late 2020, Larsa began a short-lived but drama-filled relationship with former Utah Jazz player Malik Beasley. In November 2020, Larsa and Beasley were photographed holding hands while shopping together in Miami. While Larsa was separated from his husband, Scotty Pippen at that time, Beasley’s wife, Montana Yao was shocked to see the photos and alleged they were still together. This led to a back and forth between Pippen and Yao, with the former claiming Beasley was separated when they started dating, something Yao denied.
However, Larsa and Beasley split after four months in April 2021 according to Pippen’s rep. “They’re friends and still in communication but are not together. Distance played a role in the breakup,” a source told PEOPLE. But that wasn’t the end of the connection between the Pippen family and Beasley.
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Malik Beasley became teammates with Larsa Pippen’s son at Lakers
On February 9, 2023, the Lakers traded Malik Beasley from the Jazz, along with D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt as part of a deal with the Timberwolves. This meant that Beasley became part of the same roster as Scotty Pippen Jr. – the 22-year-old son of his highly-publicized former fling, Larsa Pippen.
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After photos of her mother alongside Beasley had emerged, Pippen Jr. shared his thoughts in a post on X. He wrote, “Focused on myself and my goals. I’m not responsible for nobody’s actions. All good over here.”
But the move didn’t turn out well for Beasley. According to him, it wasn’t anyone else’s fault but his own and some of his own off-court activities led to his decline in Los Angeles. There was some friction between Beasley and Pippen Jr.
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A move to the Bucks followed, and since then, Beasley has been getting back into his grove. Right now Beasley leads the NBA in three-point percentage. Perhaps, Nick Young’s words were not that far from the truth after all.