Larsa Pippen has finally conceded that her brief romance with Malik Beasley, who was married at the time, was an ill-fated decision. "That was a mistake. A colossal mistake," she admitted to her friend Jason Lee on his show, her voice tinged with regret. "But you see, I had COVID. I had COVID brain," she continued, her expression pained.
"I was confined to my house, isolated from the world. And there he was, persistent, knocking on my door. 'Let me see you,' he'd urge. 'Let me come see you.' And in the haze of my COVID-induced confusion, I thought, 'Why not? Come on in!'" she recounted, her words painting a vivid picture of a lonely, vulnerable moment.
"COVID brain," she explained, is the colloquial term for the foggy-headed symptom often experienced by those infected with the coronavirus.
The illicit affair between Pippen, 50, and Beasley, 28, came to light in November 2020 when they were photographed holding hands in a Miami mall, a sight that left his then-wife, Montana Yao, reeling in shock. "I had just met him that day," Pippen defended herself to Lee, her voice filled with sincerity. "I swear, it was a chance encounter."
Despite Yao, 27, filing for divorce shortly after the photos went viral, Pippen steadfastly maintained that her relationship with Beasley blossomed only after his separation from the Instagram model. However, their romance fizzled out just four months later.
As for the subsequent drama surrounding Beasley becoming her son Scotty Pippen Jr.'s teammate on the Los Angeles Lakers, Larsa assured Lee, "They had a heart-to-heart when they were on the same team, and everything was fine. It wasn't a messy breakup or anything like that."
The "Real Housewives of Miami" star, who is now dating Haitian-American basketball player Jeff Coby, added with a touch of humor, "But seriously, who am I supposed to date? The gardener? Like, come on, people!"
Larsa, who has never been shortage of suitors, speculated that "guys like her" because she's "fun," "radiates good energy," and doesn't "need anything from anyone." "That's appealing to a lot of guys," she reasoned confidently.
She was previously married to retired NBA legend Scottie Pippen, with whom she shares four children: Scotty Jr., 24, Preston Pippen, 22, Justin Pippen, 19, and Sophia Pippen, 16.
Meanwhile, Beasley and Yao, who have two children together, son Makai, 6, and daughter Mia, 2, eventually reconciled, with the athlete publicly apologizing in May 2021. But unfortunately, their relationship took another turn for the worse when Yao filed for legal separation this past March.
