Kimberly Chandler, the wife of NBA player Tyson Chandler, filed for divorce this week after 16 years of marriage.
According to court documents, Kimberly is citing irreconcilable differences as the cause of the breakup. She is seeking spousal support and joint custody of their three children.
The couple reportedly separated in August.
Chandler, 38, was the second overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, but was quickly traded to the Chicago Bulls. Last year, he played for the Houston Rockets in his 19th NBA season but the veteran center has not yet officially announced his retirement.
At the height of his career, Chandler played center for the New York Knicks, where he earned Defensive Player of the Year in 2012.
In 2018, the Compton native signed on to the Lakers, where he was warmly welcomed by their star player, Lebron James.
“We love the fact that we’re going to get another veteran. A guy who plays hard, a guy who’s very smart and another champion to add to the champions that we have in this system here today, and it adds depth in our frontcourt, which we have had trouble with at times,” James said to Skysports.
Chandler credits the dire circumstances of his youth as being his motivation to thrive in life.
“My circumstances were tough. When I was sophomore and a junior, my family was homeless. I was staying from couch to couch. All of the cats there and even my little homies, everybody protected me. They were like, ‘You got a shot to make it out of here. We don’t. We can’t. We’re going to be here. So, you go ahead and you stay focused on what you focused on. We will make sure you don’t have no problems around here,” he told The Undefeated in a 2020 interview.
He continued, “At the time I was living with an uncle on the borderline of Compton and Long Beach. I was sleeping on his couch. The toughest thing was just really understanding where my family was at. There were two families in a three-bedroom house. They had one room as a couple, and their four kids were in the other room and my mom and my whole family was in one room. Just coming back, seeing that, seeing the neighborhood they were in, seeing what I already faced and what my brothers were facing, I said, ‘I can’t let them go through this because I had an opportunity.’”
Chandler and Kimberly were known for their fashion sense, often walking red carpets and attending fashion shows together. Her Instagram account shows the couple traveling together and raising their family.
In a Valentine’s Day post in 2020, Kimberly thanked her husband for loving her in spite of her flaws.
“I know there are times when I’m actually hard to be with. We all fall in love with a Person who has so many problems. So I just want to say Thank You Ty for being there and not only loving Me, but liking Me despite all the reasons You have not to. I have a lot of flaws that could’ve pushed You away…but You are still here, always trying Your best to keep Me. And I choose You too. And I’ll continue to choose You over and over and over again. Every Day. Without pause. Without doubt. In a heartbeat. I’ll keep choosing You. My Forever Valentine ?.
Tyson Chandler has not commented on the divorce filing.
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