Kendall Jenner and NBA Phoenix Suns player Devin Booker had been spending lots of time together over the past couple of years. But now the couple has split up, two years after making their relationship Instagram official. In April 2020, TMZ reported—and had video footage to prove it—that Kendall and Devin took a road trip to Sedona, Arizona, together. Then, in August of that year, Kendall, Devin, and Kylie Jenner were seen grabbing some grub together at Nobu in Malibu, California. Oh, and later the same month, Kendall, Devin, and Devin’s dog, Haven, were spotted running errands together, all of which sparked rumors for months leading up to them making it official on social media.
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While they've been spotted out together on multiple occasions since then, they've always managed to keep their relationship relatively private. Now, though, sources have reported that they have broken up amicably, with the possibility of reconciling down the line.
If you’re an NBA fan, you probably already know a thing or many about Devin, because he’s pretty good at what he does and gets a lot of attention for it. But just in case you're not into basketball, or you want to learn more about the gentleman who stole Kendall's heart, we put together a list of details about him. You’ll learn about his background and some fun facts about how he grew up to be an NBA superstar with a celebrity girlfriend.
Kendall and Devin split in June 2022.
In June 2022, multiple sources confirmed that Kendall and Devin had broken up a few weeks after returning home from Italy for Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's wedding. The split was "amicable," after the two realized they were on "different paths."
Kendall and Devin looked like a little family.
In the few Instagram posts Kendall and Devin made on Valentine's Day 2021, they looked ultra comfortable with each other. They seemed to have established an adorable little family that was completed by Devin's dog, Haven. Kendall is the only Kardashian-Jenner sister who doesn't have kids, but she's always loved dogs.
Devin made Kendall smile.
In the super-cute peek we got of Kendall and Devin on Valentine's Day, Kendall looked as happy as we've ever seen her, getting snuggles from her now ex-man. In one of the pictures, the couple is sprawled across a countertop embracing each other.
He was invited to Kim Kardashian's 40th birthday.
According to People, Kendall's family likes Devin, and he was even invited to Kim Kardashian's big 40th birthday island getaway. He never made an appearance on Keeping Up With the Kardashians or The Kardashians, though.
Kobe Bryant was his mentor.
"He didn't only just write 'be legendary,' he told me what it was going to take to get there," Devin told ESPN, recalling the first time he met Kobe, who autographed a pair of sneakers for him after they played a game against each other. "He told me I have the footwork, I have intangibles to be legendary. It's finding more and wanting more and going to get more."
He was on the cover of ESPN's magazine.
Less than a week before he and Kendall fessed up to their relationship on Instagram, Devin revealed that he was ESPN magazine's latest cover story. "The Phoenix Suns guard is on a quest to become legendary," the magazine proclaimed, further indicating that Devin's basketball career was about to take off.
Everybody calls him 'Book.'
That's right—everyone in the basketball world calls Devin "Book," rather than his first name. So if you want to seem like you're in the know about sports things, make sure you refer to him by his nickname.
He and Kendall have known each other for at least a couple of years.
According to reports, they’ve been in the same social circles since around 2018. Kendall, as you may or may not know, used to date Ben Simmons, who is also an NBA player. Well, because she’s now dated more than one basketball player, someone with an opinion suggested that she's being “passed around” by NBA players. Kendall was not having it and tweeted, “they act like I’m not in full control of where I throw this cooch,” which her sister Kylie deemed “tweet of the year.”
OK now, let’s start at the beginning with Devin.
On October 30, 1996, Devin Armani Booker was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His parents are Veronica Gutiérrez and Melvin Booker. His parents were never married, and Devin was mostly raised by his mother in Grandville, Michigan, until his sophomore year of high school. He spent summers with his father in Moss Point, Mississippi.
He has Mexican and Puerto Rican roots.
His father is African American, and he gets his Mexican and Puerto Rican roots from his mother. Jesus Gutiérrez, his maternal grandfather, was from Mexico, and Devin has been vocal about wanting to learn more about his Mexican heritage. And because of his Puerto Rican background, there’s been talk about him playing for Puerto Rico’s national basketball team.
It was thanks to Devin’s mother that he was able to stay connected with his father.
“She made it happen. I owe her all the credit for allowing that to happen,” Melvin said in an interview. “Ever since he was 8 months old he was coming with me in the summertime. It was special. I was trying to make up for the times I missed when I was gone.”
His father is a former NBA player.
Melvin played basketball for the University of Missouri and then continued to play in the minor leagues for a bit until playing in the NBA from 1995 to 1997. After that, he played in other countries from 1997 to 2008. His basketball career is what kept him away from Devin most of the year and why he cherished the summers that they got to spend together.
He has two siblings.
His mother has two other children from other relationships. Devin has an older brother named Davon Wade and a younger sister named Mya Powell. Mya has 22q11.2 deletion syndrome—or DiGeorge syndrome, as it is also called—which can cause a variety of developmental delays. The three siblings grew up together in Grand Rapids.
He moved to Mississippi to become a better player.
During his sophomore year of high school, Devin moved from Michigan to Mississippi to get basketball guidance from his father, and he ended up going to Moss Point High, where both his father and grandfather had gone. The move and transition were not easy for Devin, but it ended up being great for both his game and his relationship with his father.
He loves and appreciates his mamá very much.
“That’s part of the reason I grind so much,” Devin said in an interview. “For a mother to just let her son move with a father I didn’t spend much time with … She raised me most of my life. It takes a powerful woman to do that. We all had an understanding that it would be the best decision for me reaching my dreams. For her to allow it to happen is unbelievable.”
He's doing well in the NBA.
For now, because you know how records get broken, he is the youngest NBA player to score over 60 points in a game, and he's also the youngest player in NBA history thus far to have consecutive 50-point games. He's currently playing for the Phoenix Suns as part of a five-year, $158 million contract.
His sister Mya inspired him to become a Special Olympics global ambassador.
In April 2020, Devin was named as a Special Olympics ambassador. In a press release he said:
"I've celebrated the accomplishments and witnessed the challenges my sister Mya has experienced as a person with intellectual disabilities. She motivates me every day, and I'm humbled to be part of Special Olympics, a global organization with a mission to help spread awareness about the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities."
He loves to travel.
He fell in love with traveling as a child when he went to Italy to visit his father, who was playing basketball there at the time. That first trip abroad made him a travel enthusiast who tries to visit one different country a year. He told GQ that of the countries he has visited, China is one of his favorite places, and he gets excited whenever his passport gets a new stamp.
He considers himself a doggy daddy.
He loves his dog, Haven, so much that he considers himself a parent. On June 11, 2020, he posted a series of pictures in honor of his dog and wrote: “To my first and only son, Happy born day kid.” Haven is about 135 pounds of snuggable love.
He’s easy on the eyes.
OK, we realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but let’s just say that our eyes behold a lot of handsomeness when they look at Devin. He’s tall, athletic, and gorgeous, from what we can see, and we dare anyone to say otherwise. Obviously, he looks good on a basketball court, but he also looks good in a suit or street clothes.
He and Drake have a thing.
Drake showed his love for Devin in 2016 when the rapper wore the basketball player’s jersey during a concert in Phoenix. That’s quite the shout-out. And the love is reciprocated. "Drake’s my guy. We were just in Toronto recently. He looked out for me. Drake’s a good guy. He’s like a big brother to me," Devin told NBA.com.
He used to date Jordyn Woods.
You know Jordyn Woods, as in Kylie Jenner’s former best friend? The one who got the boot from the Kardashian-Jenner clan in 2019 after allegedly sharing a kiss with Tristan Thompson, who has a baby with Khloé Kardashian? Once upon a time in 2018, when Kendall Jenner was dating Ben Simmons, they went on a double date with Jordyn Woods and Devin Booker. Oh, the drama!
