NBA
Dwight Howard Announces Engagement to Rapper Amy Luciani
James is a Basketball Insiders contributor. He earned his bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. James enjoys watching sports and helping gamblers win money.
All posts by James FoglioUpdated17 hours ago on December 21, 2024
Former NBA champion Dwight Howard and rapper Amy Luciani revealed their engagement Friday in separate Instagram posts. Howard, 39, also shared photos of them at the movie screening for Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera in Atlanta, Ga., on Wednesday, which Howard hosted. “Happy,” he wrote, including the hashtags, “black love” and “prayed for this.”
Amy Luciani shared a video on Instagram of Dwight Howard admiring her diamond engagement ring
Luciani, 34, is a Detroit-born rapper and CEO of Pritty Kitty and The Raw Hair Company. She also joined Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta in 2023. Luciani shared a video that showed Howard admiring her diamond engagement ring while at a club. She explained in her caption that they’ve kept their relationship private for quite a while.
“I was enjoying you so much out of the public eye but here we are,” Luciani wrote. “Thank you for bringing me back to the word. Anything I say or fuss about, first thing you say is ‘Did you pray about it?’ Then I realized I hadn’t being praying much lately at all. I’m just thankful, happy and ready for everything that’s coming our way.”
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“I prayed reallllll deep on a Thursday not knowing 2 days later God would send me a Bible totin, tattooed giant with the same heart as me. Thank you,” Luciani added in her post.
Luciani’s Instagram post also included pictures and videos of them from several occasions, including Howard’s 39th birthday party on December 8.
Howard, Luciani were photographed at an event for Celsius energy drink earlier this month
Howard, who last played in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021-22 and last played in the Taiwanese professional basketball league in 2023, was wearing a diamond ring on his ring finger in the video.
The Atlanta native responded with an infinity emoji, a red heart emoji, and a lock and key emoji. It’s unclear exactly how Howard and Luciani met and when they first began dating.
According to the New York Post, they were photographed together earlier this month at an event for Celsius energy drink in Miami. The former three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year towers over the Michigan native.
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This has been a busy, chaotic year for Howard, who was among the nominees for the 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame Class that were announced on Friday. New York Knicks legend Carmelo Anthony and WNBA icon Sue Bird also headlined the Class of 2025.
Additionally, Howard competed on Season 33 of Dancing with the Stars and became a fan favorite before he was eliminated in the quarterfinals last month.
In August, Howard also officiated the wedding of London Wilmot, an athlete and celebrity stylist, and Pure, a high fashion runway model, in Madrid, Spain.
That same month, a civil lawsuit against Howard alleging sexual assault and battery was dismissed, according to a court filing obtained by ESPN.
Howard challenged Shaq to a boxing match on X
Following the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul bout in November, Dwight Howard challenged NBA legend Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal to a boxing match of his own on X.
“Shaq, wassup let’s make bread,” he wrote with a laughing emoji and a boxing glove.
Although Shaq wasn’t interested, he did reveal who he would step into the ring with.
“Gotta have more than one ring to get in the ring with me, I’ll stick with a real champion like @RobGronkowski, and you can have the Superman belt, all yours buddy,” Shaq wrote.
Gotta have more than one ring to get in the ring with me, I’ll stick with a real champion like @RobGronkowski, and you can have the Superman belt, all yours buddy,
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) November 18, 2024
More importantly, Shaq questioned why Howard would wait until he’s 50 to challenge him.
“If you woulda read it, noticed it says Nba vs Nfl with that being said you can box a Nfl guy and then if u win, then u can get The jones of the big man #thegoat #onlyonesuperman, u wait til im fifty to challenge me that’s funny just join the show and let’s whoop some nfl guys. And if u make it to the hall of fame then well do it,” Shaq added.
A Howard-O’Neal boxing match could take place in the future since Howard is set to enter the Hall of Fame. But based on the nightmarish Tyson-Paul fight on Netflix, maybe it’s for the best that it doesn’t happen.
