Game On! Meet the Cast of "Basketball Wives L.A."

Image via Complex Original

It seems that despite Gilbert Arenas's best attempts, the first season of Basketball Wives L.A. is set to premiere tonight on VH1. Sorry, dude. We can't exactly say we're complaining, though—Basketball Wives is reality television entertainment at its finest, and from what we've found out about the L.A. cast, this spinoff isn't going to disappoint either. So, in preparation for the first episode (airing tonight at 8 p.m.), here's a little intro sesh to get to know the ladies a bit better. Study up and get your heads in the game!

Gloria Govan

If you were a viewer of the original Basketball Wives series, Gloria Govan should be a pretty familiar face to you; she appeared in the original series in its first and second seasons. So, even though she's new to L.A. and the West Coast in general, she's a series veteran for this team. She wasn't terribly popular with the ladies of the original series thanks to her "no-bullshit" attitude, but whatever, it makes for good TV.

Also, it's possible that Gloria here was engaged to L.A. Lakers player Matt Barnes, with whom she has two kids, until, uh, last week. Though this obviously isn't in the series considering it happened so recently, according to a few sources Barnes dumped her because he was sick of "reckless talk" or something. Yeah, we don't get it either. If it is true, though, we can't say we're too mad. Get as reckless as you want, girl!

Laura Govan

Here's a bit of fun trivia for you, if the last name didn't already give that away: Laura here is actually fellow castmember Gloria Govan's sister! Laura's actually been in the news sort of recently, as stated earlier, because her ex and babydaddy, NBA player Gilbert Arenas, was trying to get an injunction against the series to prevent it from airing, with the basic argument that Laura shouldn't be allowed to talk about him on the show without his consent. The producers filed a countermotion against his motion and they're still battling it out in court, even though obviously the show is still going to air tonight. What exactly is Arenas trying to hide? Hmm. Guess we'll be finding that out pretty soon.

This isn't the first time controversy has surrounded Laura and Arenas's relationship, though. A few years ago, rumors began floating around that Laura had slept with Shaquille O'Neal when he was still with his now ex-wife Shaunie O'Neal and while she was still with Arenas. She denied it, and nothing's ever really been proven (though it's said that Shaq's marriage ended because of it).

We gotta say, with all the drama that's surrounded Laura before the show's even aired, we can't even imagine the juicy stuff that's probably going to go on with her in the actual series.

Jackie Christie

You probably know that Jackie Christie is married to former NBA player Doug Christie, and has been for 15 years now. If you don't, Jackie will make sure you do. Over and over and over and over....

OK, OK, we're just kidding. It's pretty sweet that the two have been able to stay together for that long in a world that just seems like an awfully toxic environment for any relationship to last more than a few years. So, what's their secret? (We're sure you're dying to know.) Well, according to a New York Times article published back in 2002 about the couple, not only do they remarry every year on their wedding anniversary, but they also used to have a sort of...sign language of love when Doug was on the court. Right. Well, whatever works for them. (And clearly, it does—the article goes on to state, "With few exceptions, Doug Christie does not look at other women, avoiding dialogue or even eye contact." Damn, dude.)

As for Jackie, she's been described as loving the spotlight, so she'll fit right in with reality TV!

Kimsha Artest

Kimsha here hates Los Angeles, which kinda sucks for her considering she's on a show called Basketball Wives L.A., but maybe that'll make for some good existential crisis scenes in the show.

Anyway, she's a born and bred New Yorker, originally hailing from Jamaica, Queens, and apparently proud of it, which is pretty cool. She was married to L.A. Lakers wild man Ron Artest for 17 years, until 2009—it actually came out last month that they'd very quietly and amicably divorced way back when, but stay friends and remain focused on raising their three kids together. Pretty mature, can't really hate on that. Being married to Ron for all those years has given her a sort of veteran attitude about the lifestyle, so we expect lots of words of wisdom from this one in the series.

And, whatever this means, she shys away from the bling. Diamonds aren't her best friend?

Imani Showalter

Imani here is the ex-fiancée of Milwaukee Bucks player (and veteran of strip club shootouts) Stephen Jackson, with whom she has three children, and apparently she hasn't dated at all since him. Seriously. Anyway, Imani used to he a member of a girl group in NYC before, so sharing the spotlight with a few other ladies won't really be anything new to her, and according to her VH1 cast page bio, she's in the process of "rediscovering" herself (this was a Julia Roberts movie, wasn't it?) and finding her passion in life. Some people do that in a therapist's office, some people do it on reality TV. No judgment.

Draya Michele

You've probably heard a lot about Draya Michele without even knowing it. To start off with, she's an aspiring model and actress (read: former stripper) and she has a history of dating a lot of NBA players. Also, Chris Brown. And Google Image searching her is a pretty...interesting experience.

Here's where things get a little dicey: Draya's real name is Andraya M. Howard. And, in January 2011, one Andraya M. Howard was arrested in Reading, Pennsylvania for child endangerment. Yeah, if you haven't gotten it by now, that was her. Apparently, Draya here had been out and about until the wee hours of the morning and left her seven-year-old son to fend for himself in their filthy apartment, with only microwave dinners to sustain him until she returned. When cops found out, they arrested her and put her son in the care of Children and Youth Services.

With that in mind...Draya's been quoted as saying, "I have a million haters. I open the list of haters and it rolls across the floor." Well, gee, wonder why. Her presence on the show should be very, very interesting.

Malaysia Pargo

Being a native of Compton, Malaysia Pargo's a pretty tough cookie. We can imagine this comes in handy, considering that she's been quoted as saying that the lifestyle she lives will "swallow you up and spit you out," because that sounds sort of hardcore (if not a bit cliché—seriously, girl, how many times has that phrase been used?).

She married Chicago Bulls player Jannero Pargo when she was only 22 and now has three kids with him. Apparently, according to some castmates, she has the tendency to come off as a bit snobby and self-entitled, which is pretty exciting because that'll make for some juicy fights this season. Let the games begin!